Another Side of Draco Malfoy
by RockQueen98
Summary: People naturally presume Draco leads a happy life, with his high wealth and pureblooded family. Though all his life contains is a mind full of worry and fear in his own home and a collection of concealed scars. Contains Drarry and a little Snupin slash, harsh violence, and some strong language. Reviews are appreciated. COMPLETE
1. Draco's Secret

Another Side of Draco Malfoy

Chapter One

Why is it, that just because of my family name, I must be treated like vermin? Why is it that I have to pretend to be someone I'm not, only to prevent my own father beating me further? All of my 'friends' are only 'nice' to me because I am a Malfoy, the Slytherin Prince, and some of their parents must keep an eye on me whilst I am not in my father's judging glare. Yes, that's right, I must be like _him, _the mighty Malfoy heir who shall marry a beautiful woman and with her shall bare the next heir. My future has naturally been decided for me _without _any input on what I want to do with my life. To tell him this is something might as well be a death wish, as I have already figured out. Ever since… For as long as I can remember actually, my father has abused me. Nobody suspects a thing, no one ever thinks of ME, and what actually happens inside the dreaded walls of Malfoy Manor. Everyone expects that I lead a great life with high wealth. Yes, the wealth is true, but certainly not the 'great life'. How can my life be great when I am forced to be a horrible person? I feel dreadful for everything I have done. I have NOTHING against muggle-borns, I feel terribly guilty for insulting that Hippogriff back in third year too. In actual fact, I snuck out that very evening and went searching for it. I found it, and I risked my life just to apologise to the beautiful creature. To my absolute pleasure, it saw my sympathy and accepted my apology. It was an amazing shock, but one I took advantage of, as I actually adore pretty much every magical creature, though of course no one knows of course. If my father knew about this… Well, I don't want to think of that. Luckily, when he questioned why I took Care for Magical Creatures, I used the excuse that I wanted to get into as many classes as possible. Anyway, the thing I am most guilty for is the way I treat Harry… Or, should I say, POTTER. That's right. Of course, as I am a Malfoy, I must pretend I despise him. I have never wanted to be a bully, or even slightly mean for that matter, but I have no choice. Luckily, I'm a good actor. Though, as soon as I get behind these walls, it's hard to conceal my emotions, A LOT harder than it is to conceal my scars. That is why I get beaten almost every day I am here. But yesterday… Yesterday was the worst ever. And I mean it. _He almost killed me._

I can't believe I did it… We were arguing about how I was too 'cowardly' to kill Dumbledore that horrible night. That bitch aunt of mine, Bellatrix, told my father, didn't she? Luckily, she is not insane enough to not be convinced by my father to tell Voldemort this. But father… He was so mad. He yelled at me about how could I be pathetic enough not to kill him after disarming him. I am a death eater now, shouldn't I be stronger than that? As soon as he said that… I went _ballistic. _I yelled back to him about how we both know that I never wanted to be a death eater, I was forced into it, and I wish I didn't have the disgrace of being a Malfoy on my shoulders. I yelled and yelled at him until he couldn't stand any of it and started his long, painful punishment. Normally, he'd just use physical attacks on me, usually with his beloved cane, but this time he was so furious that he used magic as well, including the _cruciatus _curse. The beating lasted for a whole_ hour _before he finally stopped, but he wasn't done yet. He dragged a sobbing me by my collar into an awaiting room deep in our dungeons, which had been enchanted and made in the most cruel way imaginable. He had used this room as a threat for many years before this day. The room had mirrors covering every inch of the walls, forever showing me my bloody and beaten state. In the middle of this room was a deep green illusion of the death eater mark, the only light source in the room. The room was enchanted to pause all human needs and if someone was hurt in the room itself, they cannot die as long as they are healed of the death-threatening problem itself before leaving the room, which he took advantage of, of course. He snarled at the look at my tear stained face, and using my knotted and blood-stained hair he pulled it towards him and whispered in my ear.

"You call yourself my son? Look at yourself, you're a pathetic excuse for a pure-blooded wizard!"

He threw me onto the concrete floor, making me wince in further pain. But that wasn't the last of it to come.

"_CRUCIO_!"

I scream in agony as the unforgivable curse hits me once again. He keeps me like that for a whole minute or so (which seemed like hours) before finally stopping it. I sob silently into my bruised arms, not daring to look up at his evil face.

"I heard of Potter hitting you with _sectumzembra_... By accident of course, he hasn't the courage to do something like that to you properly. Me? I do. And remember, Draco… It's not possible of you to die from the blood loss here."

"No… Please…" I whisper through my sobs. He simply grins at this.

"_SECTUMZEMBRA!_

I am thrown from my position to right under the mark illusion, blood dripping from all over my body. This combined with all my other beatings is unbearable, and I can't even move from the pain.

"Night, Draco…"

He left me trembling in the dark. Everywhere I looked, I could see a boy I didn't recognise, and the dreaded mark.

This is the next day. He finally let me out this morning, healing my deadly wounds but keeping the bruises and cuts, as a reminder. I would have healed them myself, but he threatened me of a beating even worse if I did so I haven't dared. Instead, I am attempting to ignore the pain and I have used a concealing charm which should last until very early next morning, when I can redo it before anyone wakes.

"Draco? Come on, the train is leaving in an hour!"

"Coming, mother…."

Great. Another year at Hogwarts, where I am feared and hated. Just great.

Regular POV:

All of the students hurried onto the Hogwarts Express, each excitingly chatting about the year to come. Harry, Ron and Hermonie hop aboard and search the busy train for seats, also discussing about what this year had to offer.

"So, how many classes did you take again, Hermonie?" Says an amused Ron.

"Uh… 10? 11? Something like that?"

"Bloody hell!"

Harry laughs at his two best friends, before his face darkens into an unfriendly scowl at a certain Slytherin down the corridor.

"Harry? What's wrong?" says a concerned Hermonie, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"THAT'S what's wrong." said Ron, pointing down at the blonde wizard.

"Oh, great, what a wonderful person to see! Still, we need seats, we must bear him." says a displeased Hermonie.

"Come on, let's just get this over with." Harry mutters.

The three friends walk down towards him to get to the next carriage. To their surprise, the Slytherin simply looks up from the book he was reading, before carrying on again.

"What's your problem, Malfoy?" said Ron.

"Huh?" he says, looking up again.

"You heard me."

"What did I even do?" he mutters, carrying on with his reading.

"You're just standing there plotting, aren't you? I bet that's a dark arts boo right there, isn't it?" he replies, making a grab for the book. Draco quickly puts it in his pocket. There was no way that they would find out he was reading a book on History of Magical Creatures.

"That is just ridiculous, Weasley. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I am expected to meet someone." Draco says, starting to walk off. He didn't want anything to do with these three this year, nothing at all. Ron grabs his arm to stop him, making him cry out in pain.

"Ron, let go, you're hurting him, stop it." Harry says to him.

"Come on, I was barely touching him!" he says, but still lets go all the same. Draco gently rubs the affected spot, nodding slightly towards Harry in a small sign of gratitude. He simply blinks, and observes him a little.

"Malfoy, just out of curiosity, how did you get that bruise on your hand?" Harry says, nodding at his right hand.

_Shit. _He curses to himself. _Missed a spot._

Harry starts to get out his wand and grabs Draco's wrist, making him wince. Harry raises an eyebrow at this.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Hermonie says as he points his wand towards the bruise. Ron nods to show his confusion too, and Draco simply looks puzzled.

"I am going to heal it, of course." He says matter-of-factly.

_NO!_

"No, DON'T!" Draco shouts.

Harry drops his wrist, and the three look at him in confusion.

"Malfoy? What the hell?" said Harry.

"Just… Just stay away from me! Do what everyone else does!" he whispers, before walking away, holding back his tears.

"What's gotten into HIM?" Ron says in confusion.

"I… I don't know, Ron, I really don't." Harry replies to him. Looks like he is going to finally have to figure out just what is going through that head of his.

"Draco? Are you alright?"

Draco looks away from the window to his only true friend, Pansy, and sighs deeply.

"No, not really."

"Do you… Do you want to talk about it?"

He shakes his head and looks back out of the window he was once staring out of.

"Alright, that's fine with me. Just… Just remember that you can talk to me about anything, right?"

He winces, but then nods at her. She sighs once he looks back outside. She knows something is wrong. He has always seemed to have something wrong with him, but never has he seemed this bad. It hurt her slightly that her best friend wouldn't talk to her about it, but she still tries her best to be there for him, hoping that one day, he might perhaps confess to what is bothering him. She knew it was something to do with his new Mark, and his father. She had a little idea about what went on behind those Manor walls, but it's not something she knew in detail, which she couldn't exactly _ask _him about. She would just have to wait and see if he finds the courage to tell her himself.

Soon enough, the Hogwarts Express arrives at Hogsmede. The students scampered off, all chatting about the school year ahead of them. The trio exit their carriage after most of the others, taking their time as to not get caught in the crowds. Unfortunately for Draco, he planned to do the same with Pansy, and ended up bumping in to them _again._

_Great. _He thought to himself. _Just what I need. Like I haven't got enough on my mind already…_

"Look who it is, AGAIN! Wow, seriously, where is our luck this year?" Ron exclaimed to Harry and Hermonie. She just shook her head, trying to hide her upcoming grin. Harry, on the other hand, didn't really see why Ron had to start on Malfoy.

"Just leave it, Ron…" Says an annoyed Harry.

"What? You're taking his side? I'm sure he is following us on purpose, plotting something against us like normal!"

"That is just ridiculous, Weasley…" Draco says, sighing.

"Just leave him be, will you? He has enough on his mind as it is, he doesn't really need you butting into his life as well!" Pansy said angrily.

Draco smiled at her weakly, looking grateful. Naturally, as Ron had a huge grudge against him, didn't let it go that easily.

"Oh yeah, of COURSE he has a lot of things on his mind! Things on how he could please the Dark Lord and his loving father, and how to suck up to them further! Seriously, Azcaban is where you'll be heading, mark my words, you rotten ferret! Is that why you are all nervous and scared most of the time? Because you know of your fate? A fate that even your pathetic father isn't pleased of? It's not like I care about it, you can rot in there and the dememtors can ruin you inside and out for all I fucking care!" Ron shouted at him.

"RON! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Harry yelled at him, getting a look of confusion from Ron. Even Hermonie looked shocked at Ron's outburst. The four of them, including Pansy who looked incredibly pissed off, all looked over at Draco wondering how many hexes he would cast. It turned out to be zero, to all of their surprise.

"You couldn't be more wrong about me, Weasley. _You _mark _my _words, I want nothing to do with Voldemort, nor my father. He is not loving. The only thing you got right is that I am scared. Not of Azcaban, though. Before you try to insult me like that, you should try and learn what I cope with. You know that I don't want the mark, but that is less than half of what goes through my mind, though of course it is still a big deal. Just stay out of my life, I don't want it ruined anymore." Draco said in a quiet voice which was barely above a whisper. His eyes glistening with tears, but he didn't allow them to spill. Instead, he simply turned around and walked off, nodding slightly at Pansy to show he still doesn't mind her being there. She nodded back, but didn't go because, being Draco's best friend, she had to naturally get her own words in there.

"Listen, you three, especially you, Weasley. I haven't much knowledge on what is troubling Draco, but I am certain of the basics. Trust me, if my theories are correct, the last thing he wants is for you to start bothering him even more. I know he has been a git to you, but he has changed, and doesn't want anything like that with you again. So just leave him be, okay?" She quickly caught up with Draco before any reply was made.

"Bloody hell, what is up with them?" Ron exclaimed.

"To be fair Ron, you did accuse Malfoy of wanting to be a death eater and all…" Harry said quietly.

"What, you're taking HIS side?" He said in an angry tone.

"No, I'm just stating the truth…" Harry sighed.

"But, it's Malfoy! He's-"

"RON, just leave it! Harry has a point, they did have a reason to be annoyed! I dislike them both, but Malfoy did nothing to you then and you had no reason to start, alright?" Hermonie said in an annoyed tone. Harry nodded in agreement.

"You're… You're taking Malfoy's side too? After everything he has called you? I can't BELIEVE you two!" He shouted at them before storming off to Dean's and Sheamus' carriage.

They both sighed deeply and made their own way to a carriage.

"I don't see what's his problem… There was no need for that, was there?" Hermonie says.

"No, there wasn't… Malfoy has been a git in the past, but I wouldn't use something that was forced upon him against him." Harry replies.

"It's not right. Oh well, he'll soon come to his senses and come out of his childish strop." She grinned.

"Ha, yeah." Harry says.

They got onto a carriage which Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom were already in.

"Hey Nevelle, hey Luna." Hermonie says smiling. Harry nods at them both of them.

"Hey guys." Said Neville.

"Hi!" Luna says happily.

They settle down in the carriage. Harry sighs quietly and starts thinking about what Draco and Pansy had said. What did they mean about Draco? They mentioned his hate for the mark, but there was something else… And Harry was going to find out what.


	2. Truth Revealed

A/N: This chapter may not seem as good as the first, but it is more of a filler, I guess. I have quite a few good ideas for this story, but I can't have them happen so soon… So yeah. By the way, I don't really have a specific time I am going to update this. I'm going to try and post once a week, but it might vary. I can't imagine me posting too often because I have a lot of exams coming up, including 4 in March, damn. Oh, and random note, do you like the cover? I'm that committed I drew it myself, hehe x)

Disclaimer: Obviously, I'm not J.K Rowling. That sums it all up, doesn't it?

Enjoy! The chapter itself is about 3,000 words, yay!

The absence of Dumbledore at the first feast of the year was one that everyone knew would be hard to adjust to, even the Slytherins. Professor Mogonagal took his place as Headmistress, which seemed fair to most. Naturally, Snape wasn't here this year, so Slughorn took the place of Potions Master instead again, while Lupin decided to come back to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts again. There were still many first years that had joined, but the numbers had decreased slightly compared to previous years. Draco did not pay attention to any of the house placements even though he was a prefect. _Oh well. I could always find out their names later._ He thought to himself. The new headmistress finished her speech and the usual warnings, including a small goodbye to Dumbledore. Surprisingly, she sounded quite like him when she announced for the feast to begin like he did. Like usual, there was a collection of gasps from all of the first years who obviously didn't realise just how large the feasts at Hogwarts are. Everyone in the hall tucked in greedily, except from Draco, who just sighed deeply and put his head deeper into his hand. He didn't show any interest of eating the food before him.

"Draco? Why aren't you eating?" Pansy asked him in a concerned tone.

"I'm not hungry." He replied to her simply.

"Come on, Malfoy! You're becoming a scrawny thing, you're gonna lose those Quidditch muscles before you know it!" Crabbe exclaimed with a chuckle. Goyle joined in with his laughter. Pansy, however, shot them both a glare so cold that it wouldn't even be expected by a Slytherin.

"Don't listen to him Draco. You don't have to eat if you don't want to."

She was actually a bit worried about how much weight he had been losing, but decided it would be best not to comment, especially in a place as crowded as the Great Hall.

"Thanks… I think I might just go get some air. Don't worry, I'll only be about five minutes, I'll be back for the first years, I'm not leaving you to have to deal with them on your own." Draco said, managing a weak smile at her.

"Alright, see you soon." She's go with him, but she knows when Draco just wants a little time alone, and this was one of those times.

He headed out into the corridor, turned into the next one so he wouldn't be heard and looked behind him to see if anyone was there. Thankfully, he wasn't, and all the emotions he had been keeping bottled up just burst out of him. He slid down a wall behind him so his was crouched at the bottom, buried his head onto his lap and allowed a couple of the fought back tears to fall down his pale cheeks. Weasley's words had actually gotten to him a lot, even though what he said were lies. It was just a wake-up call for him, that he IS a death eater, and he is not just connected to his father now, but also the Dark Lord. He saw another Lucius in Draco, a son who will grow up to be just like his father and serve as one of the most upper death eaters of all time. Of course, Draco did not wish to be like his father at all, he just wanted to be himself, but did he have a choice? Was he just going to have to be like him in the end, either become like him or die? He was sure of the answer, and it terrified him to no end.

He got up a few minutes later, hearing that the first years were being told to follow the prefects to the dormitories. He wiped his tears away and headed back to the hall, where he met up with Pansy. She looked into his grey eyes and noticed straightaway he had been crying, but she knew him well enough now that he wouldn't want to talk about it just yet, or maybe even not at all. She simply nodded at him to show her understanding, and then beckoned the Slytherin first years to come along to them.

"Alright everyone, I am Pansy Parkingson and this is Draco Malfoy-" She was interrupted by lots of excitable whispers about Draco being a Malfoy. He raised a hand to shush them and nodded at her to carry on.

"As I was saying… We are the Slytherin prefects, so if you would please follow us to the dormitories. And DON'T wander off, unless you want to miss out on what the password is!" She continued with a grin. They all nodded at her, still staring at Draco. He sighed at the looks of the young Slytherins.

"Enough with the stares, let's go." He said quietly, but loud enough for them all to hear.

They travelled up the moving staircases, with all of the children pointing at the different paintings hung up on the walls. Draco actually smiled slightly at this; he remembered his astonishment at the amazing pieces of art which blesses Hogwarts. The short-lasting smile soon faded away though when he saw a certain ginger Gryffindor glaring over at him from another staircase, with a lack of Potter and Granger, he noticed, even though he could hear their shouts to the first year Gryffindors not very far away. Pansy squeezed his arm slightly to distract him.

"Just ignore him, he is just being immature." Pansy whispered to him. He nodded in agreement.

"Alright, here we are, first years! The password is Anguis, do NOT forget it, otherwise you won't be able to get in! Make a note of it if you have to, just don't forget it!" Pansy said to everyone. She had enough problems with that last year, she wasn't going to let it happen again.

"Why isn't HE saying anything?" A little red haired girl said, smirking.

"Yeah, I was thinking he'd be boasting constantly and being really loud, being a Malfoy and all. Thought he'd be out with his father helping you-know-who, actually." A brunette boy said in a cocky tone. Draco sighed at this. What a common stereotype, him actually _wanting _to be a death eater and helping the Dark Lord.

"Well, you are quite far off me, aren't you…"

"Dickens. Matthew Dickens." He smirked.

"Right, Dickens, you shouldn't judge people you don't even know. Just because my last name is Malfoy does NOT mean I am like Lucius Malfoy. Understand?"

The little Slytherin gulped and nodded. Clearly, he had a big mouth of his own, but couldn't take it when other people put him in his place. It reminded Draco of himself when he was in the first couple of years, actually, because as his father didn't beat him as badly then (though it was still very painful), he had a little cockiness and perhaps even a little confidence when arguing with Potter. Naturally, now, all that cockiness and confidence ceased to exist in Draco. _Kind of understandable, having a father who hits you just for looking at him in a way he doesn't like._ He thought to himself, making him shudder at the memory back in his fourth year, when he was pretending he found Potter in the Tri Wizard Tournament amusing. Lucius said something cruel about how if that didn't stop him, it looks like someone else would. That stopped Draco's acting in his tracks, and he glared for a second at his father. He looked away straightaway, but he wasn't quite quick enough. That taught him never to underestimate his father's temper again, as that night had given him a couple of new scars to his large collection.

"Anyway, I better give you directions to the dormitories. As you know, this is the common room. Big, huh? If you look over there, you'll see three sets of stairs. The one to the left leads upstairs to the male bathroom and dormitories, while the one to the right leads to the girls'. Any questions?" Pansy says.

"What's up the middle staircase?" A raven-haired girl asks.

"That, my friend, is somewhere you can't go. Up there is the sixth, seventh and eighth year rooms, along with the prefects' rooms and the bathrooms."

"Why can't we have our own rooms?" A couple of them whine.

"Because… You can't. Older pupils only, sorry." Pansy smirked.

"But… That's not fair!" Matthew cries.

"Yes, it is. We had to share a dormitory too, without complaining. Quit moaning." Draco muttered, just about loud enough for him to hear.

"Alright…" He sulked. He no longer reminded Draco of his younger self. Draco NEVER whines. Perhaps that is the only thing he took from his father, excluding the well-known platinum blonde hair.

Pansy and Draco found themselves that night in Draco's room. They decided to have a bit of a chat just before bed, considering they hadn't seen each all summer and hadn't yet had a proper moment to themselves properly. Pansy had a plan to try and get Draco to spill some of the secrets he was keeping to himself, though she hadn't actually thought _how _she was exactly going to do this. Draco was a very secretive person, and he rarely opened up to her, or anyone for that matter. _Just go along with it, see how it goes._ She thought.

"So… How did your holidays go, Pansy?" He said with a smile. Pansy couldn't help but feel so proud of how he managed to cope with everything just for her.

"They were great thanks! We were travelling round America for most of them, it was so much fun! I think New York had has to be my favourite… The shops were just so _amazing!" _She said enthusiastically. He nodded at her.

"So I've heard. Muggles are known to make nice clothing." He smirked, almost looking like the Draco he was back in first year.

"Aye, they are! I got a massive bunch of gorgeous items that I _must _show you at Christmas!" How were your holidays, anyway?" She said happily. Only a second to think and a cold glare from Draco made her realise just what she asked. _Shit!_

"…Worse than usual. Much worse. Unless your idea of fun is being dragged off to do deeds for the Dark Lord and being beaten shitless for not killing your own headmaster." He said angrily. But then he realised… What HE just said. _No, no, NO! I shouldn't have done that… He is going to kill me… Fuck, why did I let that slip out, WHY?! I'm such an idiot… _He rambled silently to himself. Pansy looked at him, shocked, but not as much as he thought she'd be.

"I knew it… Why didn't you tell me, Draco?" She said quietly.

"How… How did you know? Is it obvious?" He panicked.

"No, not to anyone else, anyway. But I'm your best friend… And I know how you wince when anyone touches you, and I see the way Lucius looks at you." She says gently.

"He… I… No one can know! I'm fucked, Pansy, I really am!" He cried in a panic.

"Draco, we need to tell someone… You ca-"

"NO. No one can know, Pansy! He… He'll do it even worse next time, I'm telling you. Even YOU shouldn't know! He's been doing it all my life, and I have never been able to tell ANYONE!"

"Draco, calm down! I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to… I am just worried about you, Draco!" She looked at him with a mixture of concern and sadness. Never sympathy: That is one thing she knew he would never want.

"I know, I'm sorry… I'm just… Scared." He whispered. She brought him into a hug.

"Draco… How bad was it? You have never been this scared before…"

"…Very. I don't want to talk about it."

"I understand. Just remember I'm here for you, okay Draco?"

"I know… Thank you Pansy. But…"

"But what?" She says in a more concerned tone.

"The beatings now for me not wanting to be a death eater are bad enough… But what if he finds out I'm gay?" He whispered.

"…I don't know. We'll figure something out, okay?"

He simply nods and buries his head into her shoulder, finally letting the tears go. She wraps her arms a little more around him, careful not to hurt his concealed pain. She rocked him gently like one would a child, which Draco found soothing. Naturally, as Lucius was a psycho and Narcissa never cared for the beatings Draco got, he has never had any comfort like that before. They stay like that for several minutes before Draco pulls away.

"Thanks for being such a good friend, Pansy. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here…" He says with a genuine smile.

"It's no problem at all, Draco. I will always be here for you, no matter what happens."

He smiles then looks at the time.

"I have potions first thing tomorrow, so I need my sleep. Would you mind if I go to bed, Pansy?" He yawned.

"Not at all." She smiles.

She made her way over to the wooden, deep green door, opened it and turned back around.

"Goodnight, Draco."

But the Slytherin was already asleep. _Probably doesn't get any sleep at that wretched Manor._ She thought angrily to herself. She sighs, and then closes the door quietly in order not to wake him.

"_Come, Draco... It is time." _

No, no, no… Not this dream. Or, memory, to be precise. It was as equally as bad as the one in the Dark Mark room.

"_B-but father, I-"_

"_LOOK! You are a Malfoy, Draco! You WILL be serving the Dark Lord, it is what we do! Understand?!" He said with a whack of his cane across the back of Draco's neck, making him yelp out in pain._

"_Y-yes, father, I-I understand…"_

"_Quit with that stuttering, you are the son of Lucius Malfoy for God's sake!" He snarled, and slaps him hard across the face._

"_Yes father."_

"_Good. Alright, let's go, I'll apparate us there."_

_They stood in the graveyard of the Riddle family. All of the death eaters, besides Lucius and Narcissa naturally, stood in a circle around the Malfoy Family, with Voldemort in front of them._

"_So nice of you to join us in this fine evening, Draco." The Dark Lord said with a smirk._

_Lucius nudges him forward roughly with his cane._

"_Are you ready to join me and your father, and become a death eater?"_

_Draco said nothing. He didn't have any clue what to say. He had never been more frightened in his life. He obviously didn't want to join them, but he didn't want to die, not like this._

"_Well?" Voldemort says, starting to get angry._

"_Y-yes, alright." Draco says quietly. Voldemort laughs at this._

"_Ha, not exactly a fierce one yet, is he Lucius? Don't worry, that'll change!" He reaches out suddenly and grabs Draco's left arm roughly. He grips his wand, pointing it at the pale skin. The pain of the Mark being carved into his arm was unbearable. He screamed and fought back tears. Voldemort laughs and grins wickedly at this. He knew that Draco didn't want to be doing this, and thought that he will have some fun._

"_You're one of us now, Draco Malfoy. You are now a death eater."_

Draco screams and awakens from his nightmare. He is shaking all over and is covered in sweat. He looks at the time, which read 3:13. He sighed, too scared of his own past to fall back asleep. He carefully lifts up his left sleeve, revealing the Mark stained on his skin, filling him with a hatred he only felt for the Dark Lord, and his father.

He sat up and throws the green sheets off him, moving his legs so that they hang down from the bed. He slouches over and places his head into his trembling hands. He breathed slowly, trying to erase his mind from the terrifying memory. He started to calm down, but then the fireplace from the other side of the room started to flicker a green flame. Curious, as it isn't connected to the Fluu network, he got up and slowly made his way over to it. When he got nearer, it suddenly let out a huge emerald flame that shot upwards before going back down, without leaving any ash or trace whatsoever. The only thing that was left was a piece of paper left in its place, with writing on which Draco recognised as his father's. He gulped and reached out his left shaking hand to pick it up. He held it in front of him and began to read the green ink.

_Draco,_

_As I have been disappointed with your lack of contribution as a death eater, I have asked the Lord to give you another task, as he believes you did well with killing Dumbledore, though of course you were too weak to do that, weren't you?_

_He is still thinking of a task for you, and it will be difficult, to say the least. It will only be yours to do, Draco, so I would do this properly, if I were you. If you fail the task you are given, then I will deal with you before the Lord can, understand? I would prepare for it my boy, as it will definitely be before Christmas._

_Have a nice time at school, while you can._

_Lucius._

His shaking hands gave way and the letter fell to the floor. He fell to the floor and wept. Why couldn't he just be like any other wizard his age? Was a normal life just too much to ask for? He knew the task, whatever it would turn out to be, would be just as bad as his task to kill Dumbledore, perhaps even worse. He didn't know what to do, he never knew what to do. Apart from Pansy, whom he didn't want to get into any harm, he had no one to tell or anyone who could help him, or even care for him.

_I will never belong._


	3. The Truce

Yay, a quick update! I can't imagine this being regular, but for now… Here you go! Oh, and I'm not J.K Rowling. Though you obviously know that.

This chapter is even longer! It is, not including this and the Author's note at the end, 3,660+ words long! I'm getting better at this xD

Draco didn't sleep at all after reading that letter. He didn't bother trying: He probably wouldn't be able to, and even if he did, he'd just have more nightmares. Instead, he lay on top of his bed sheets for the rest of the early morning, staring up at the ceiling. All the time he was laying there, his mind didn't shift from the thought of what his next "duty" would be. He could tell the Dark Lord was planning on something big, if he wasn't he wouldn't need time to think about it. Draco hoped that he wouldn't be assigned to kill someone again; he knew he couldn't do it, even if it was the Weasel. If that was what he would get told to do, which it would probably be, then his end wouldn't be so far away. And he had a good feeling that it wouldn't be painless.

His muggle alarm rang suddenly, making him jump terribly in his frightened state. He sighs, flicking his wand at the clock to stop the ringing. It read 5:30, the time his concealing charm would have faded away. _Goodness, I was lying there for a long time. _He thought.

He then proceeded to placing his wand down by his side and carefully removed his night clothes, trying to avoid touching his delicate skin as much as possible. Naturally, it wasn't necessary for him to conceal _everything _his father has done, only the parts that show, but he felt better with concealing it all. He picked up his wand and began to conceal all of the marks. Because of the vast quantity, it takes him a full 15 minutes to cover them all, and to make sure there were none showing. After leaving the bruise on his hand last time, he felt like he had to take extra careful. Considering everyone else wouldn't be up until about seven, and he obviously didn't want to sleep, he decided to have a long shower. Luckily, his concealing charm didn't wear off from contact with water. He entered his bathroom and turned on the shower. He ran his hand through the pouring water, and stepped in when he was satisfied with the heat. He had read in a few of his books of how the characters had their troubles washed away as they let the water comfort them. It was comforting, sure, but it didn't help his troubles.

He stood in there for an hour before he heard a knock at the door in his bedroom, which he just about heard through the open door of the bathroom. Due to his natural instincts from living in the Manor, he turned off and jumped straight out of the shower, grabbed a towel and looked at the door, tensed up.

"Draco? Are you awake?"

He relaxed at the sound of Pansy's voice. He felt a little ridiculous, actually, of course it would be her. Saying that, his behaviour was understandable. What do you expect from the son of a psycho murderer who beats his own son?

"Yeah, hang on, I'm just getting dressed."

He quickly throws on his Slytherin uniform and opens his door. She smiles at him.

"Hey, I thought you overslept! You normally come to make sure I'm awake by now!" She grins at him.

"I was having a longer shower than usual." He says, gesturing towards his hair.

"Ah, of course. I'm going to go and get ready; I'll meet you in the common room at 7:45, okay?"

"Sure. See you soon." She waves and goes back to her room.

He takes his wand and uses it to dry his hair. He looks into the mirror, and decided he preferred it without the spell-gel he used. He runs his hand through it and grins at the reflection. As much as he hated being a Malfoy, he loved the colour of the hair. Plus, they make for attractive people. He looked at the clock and saw it was already 7:40. He grabs his favourite earring, a sliver ring with a green snake curled around it with rubies as its eyes, and puts in into his earlobe. He opens his door and makes his way downstairs to the common room. He sees the time is 7:44 and settles into a green velvet armchair to wait for Pansy. _Trust her to literally come at 7:45. _He thought with a slight grin.

"What are you smirking at?" The first year, Dickens, snaps at him.

Draco rolls his eyes at his previous encounter.

"A funny thought which doesn't involve you, Dickens, so watch your mouth." Dickens glares at him and storms off to his friends.

"What was that all about?"

Draco looks up at a grinning Pansy.

"What do you think? An annoying first year who thinks they are _so _tough because they were sorted into Slytherin!" He laughs. Pansy joins in with him and looks over to the scowling boy.

"Anyway, I don't know about you, but I'm _starving._ Shall we go and get some breakfast?" She asks. He nods, and they gesture to the first years for them to follow them to the Great Hall, as they naturally didn't know the way around the castle properly yet.

They enter the Hall and take their usual seats. Draco sighs when he sees that the Weasel was s_till _glaring at him, and also still lacking in companionship of Granger and Potter.

"Pansy, what did I actually _do _for that Weasel to keep glaring at me?"

"I don't know myself, Draco. It seems like Granger and Potter aren't happy with it too; they are five seats away from him! Oh dear, it seems like the Golden Trio have had a bit of a tiff!" Draco laughs at this, but doesn't seem to be taking any interest in the food. His mind kept going back to thinking of his father's letter, making him lose any appetite he may have had in the first place. He just pours himself a glass of orange juice and sips that instead. Pansy puts down the bagel she was eating and looks at him, with a mixture of concern and seriousness.

"Draco, you really do need to eat, you're becoming underweight."

He sighs, but does what he is told and gets himself a slice of toast, which he nibbles at slowly. _At least he is eating _something. She thought to herself. He finishes one half and just leaves the other. Soon enough, it was time for the first lesson. They say goodbye to each other and make their way to their lessons. As much as Draco loved potions, he missed his godfather. Though, naturally, he didn't know if he could ever feel the same way about him again.

Before anyone could take a seat, Slughorn interrupts.

"No, sorry everyone, but I feel as though it would be best for me to decide you your partners for this year. I don't want you to stay in your friendship groups, I think we will mix things up a bit. Granger, you shall go with Crabbe. Weasley, you'll be with Goyle. Brown, you will be with Zabini. Lovegood, you will go with Thomas. And that leaves Potter to be with Malfoy. Any questions?"

He did not get any questions, just a large amount of groans from most of the pupils, apart from, to his surprise, Harry and Draco. _How bloody typical._ Draco says silently.

"Right, I trust you all got a textbook as you walked in?" Everyone nodded at him. "Right, good. We will be starting from front to finish, thankfully, so turn the pages until you get to Veritaserum. Once we are done, I will have to take them from you to prevent any of you choosing to use them on each other. Understand?" They nod again. "Alright, get started."

Draco sighs and looks at Harry.

"Right, I know how hopeless at Potions you actually are, so I promise I'll keep an eye on you, okay?" He said with a smirk.

"Oh ha ha, Malfoy. Alright, I'll get the ingredients; you get the cauldron and equipment ready." Harry says before walking off. Draco stares at him as he walked off, surprised at the lack of arguing, or even any annoyance. _Maybe this won't be so bad after all._ He thought while getting the things together. Harry returns shortly after with his arms full of ingredients, looking a little annoyed.

"What's up with you, Potter?"

"Nothing, just Ron being a git to me and Hermoinie." He mutters. _Why am I telling Malfoy this? It's not like he cares._ He thought.

"He's being a git to you? How?"

_No way is that Malfoy being concerned. This is MALFOY, as in son of LUCIUS MALFOY. Get a grip._

"Doesn't matter." Harry sighs.

Draco pauses and considers what to say.

"He is forever a git to me. In fact, he has been glaring at me ever since you three pretty much ambushed me on the train and he accused me of wanting to be a death eater." Harry looks at him, then at Ron. Sure enough, he was glaring at Malfoy. In fact, he was glaring at both of them.

"Just ignore him; he needs to get a grip. Alright, Mr. Potions expert, what do you wish for me to do?" Draco would think he would say that bitterly, but it was actually said in a joking tone. Maybe Potter didn't hate him anymore. They actually worked okay together, even though they didn't speak a lot. Harry still had his mind set on figuring out Draco's secret, while Draco simply enjoyed the boy's presence, though he did his best to not let this show. The potion came out well in the end, and Slughorn was surprised. He told them that after the 27 days of brewing, it would be perfect. _Maybe those two can get along better than we thought. _He thought to himself with a smirk.

_Two Weeks Later…_

The first Quidditch game of the season was about to commence. Gryffindor VS Slytherin was a great way to start.

Draco fidgeted with his Nimbus 2001, trying not to let his nervousness show through. He did alright during the practices, but they weren't as brutal, plus he was team captain as well as the Seeker (like Harry) anyway, so he didn't get a lot of practice done, compared to the others. He was worried that his weaker body might restrict him, and it would be even more terrible if he had an accident. Even though it had been 17 days since the abuse, it still affected him. Most of the bruises and cuts had healed by now, some leaving a few extra scars, but his body still ached from the high amounts of spells and physical damage his body endured. He wouldn't have worried if the opponents had been Hufflepuff, or even Ravenclaw, but the Gyffindors were different.

Draco led his team out onto the field, and looked over at the incoming Gryffindor team. Harry flew over to him and smirked. Even though they weren't complete enemies anymore, though they still had their fair share of squabbling, they were full rivals on the Quidditch pitch and any hint of them getting along was forgotten.

"You're going down, Malfoy!"

"Really, Potter? I believe your luck shall run out today!"

"You keep telling yourself that, Malfoy!" Draco smirks at him and watches him as he flies off to the other side. He zoned out when the rules were being told, mainly to Slytherin, but was wide awake when the game began.

He flew higher and moved his gaze over the pitch to try and spot the snitch. He was extra careful staying out of the way of any danger and gripped his broom a little tighter than usual. He didn't fancy witnessing how much it would hurt to injure himself further. Harry joined him and grinned.

"You alright, Malfoy? Seem a bit tense to me!"

"…I'm fine. Just looking out fo- LOOK OUT!" He yelled as he saw a bludger heading towards their way. They quickly move out the way, Harry choosing to dive under it while Draco flipped backwards out of the way.

"Thanks for that!" Harry says, smiling slightly. Draco nods at him and they look at each other for a split second before they both see a certain winged ball fly upwards from the middle of them. They share a quick grin before shooting off into the air after the Snitch.

They fly side by side further into the clouds, chasing after the golden ball. They exchange a quick look at each other and continue to go forward. They both stop as they realise the Snitch is nowhere to be seen.

"Goddamn that fucking ball!" Draco says annoyingly.

"…Malfoy?"

"Yes, Potter? Make it quick, we better get back down to the pitch."

"We… We better go."

"What?" He looks over to him and sees he is pointing up at some clouds above them. Except, one of them weren't a proper cloud. It was a Dark Mark, and it seemed to be coming closer to the Seekers.

"MALFOY! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Harry yells, but they didn't have enough time to escape before the Mark with a loud cry shot through Draco, plunging his mind into darkness. Harry raced over and caught the unconscious Slytherin before he fell through the clouds. The broom did, however, and Harry sighed with relief at the close call. He heard a large collection of gasps far below as the fallen broom landed on the ground. He adjusted Draco so he was in front of him on his broom. Harry put one arm round the other boy's waist and his other hand on the broom.

"Hang in there, Draco…" He murmured before carefully flying down towards the pitch. Once he got into the crowd's eyesight, there was another collection of gasps. He rolled his eyes at this. Madam Hooch beckoned him down and looked at a very pale Draco.

"Whatever happened, Potter?" She cried.

"Long story, Madam. I will take him to the hospital wing on my broom, it will be faster."

"Alright, I guess we'll have to have a rematch of the game. Please inform me on what happened after, okay? Hurry now."

He nodded and, shifting Draco properly in front of him again, took off towards the hospital wing, ignoring the stares (and a glare from Ron) he got from helping Malfoy.

He landed gracefully outside the hospital wing and caught Malfoy again before he fell and lifted him up. Even thought he was at least half a head taller than Harry, he was extremely light and Harry realised just how underweight Draco actually was. He opened the door and stepped inside. The nurse looked over, clearly shocked about how the-boy-who-lived was walking in carrying the Slytherin Prince unconscious in his arms bridal style. She quickly shook her head to forget about it and hurried over to the two boys.

"Potter, whatever happened?" She asked, gesturing for him to place Draco onto the nearest bed.

"I don't quite know, actually…"

She put a hand to Draco's forehead, looking concerned.

"He has a high fever, but I cannot tell what's wrong. What happened to him?" She asked again.

"Well… We were flying up into the clouds, after the Snitch…" She nods. "And… Well, we lost it, and I saw that the Dark Mark was in the sky, which looked like it was heading towards us. I warned Dra- Malfoy, but before we could get out of the way it shot through him and knocked him out. That's all that happened, really…"

"That is most indeed strange. Stay here with Malfoy, I am going to go and fetch Professor McGonagall." Harry nods at her and watches her move quickly out of the room. He wondered why she didn't stay with Draco while he went to get the headmistress, but forgot about it when he felt the Slytherin start to shake.

"Malfoy?"

He got no response, Draco just kept shaking, and he noticed a few beads of sweat trickling down his forehead.

"DRACO? Are you alright?"

_Draco sat on a green armchair while his father shouted at him the 50__th__ time in the holidays about his failure to kill Dumbledore._

"_You WILL look at me when I'm talking to you, boy!" Lucius yelled, slamming his cane across the back of Draco's head. He winced and turned to glare at his evil father._

"_How can I call you my son when you can't even be a death eater properly?! My only son should be just like me, not a pathetic THING like you! You are worthless! If I was to kill you now, no one would even notice you were gone! No one cares for you, you little brat! You are no son of mine!"_

"_Maybe I don't WANT to be your son! Maybe I DON'T want to be a death eater! You know as well as I do that I hate you and your ways! Why can't I be normal? Why can't I live a normal life, with no abuse, no hatred, with parents who care for me? Oh yeah, because YOU'RE IN IT! I hate you so much! I hate you as much as the Dark Lord! I hate the way you hit me for anything I do! Why can't you be a real dad, you BASTARD! I wish you weren't part of my life!" He yells back at his "father". Lucius looks at him shocked, before replacing that look one of pure fury and hatred._

"_You will pay for talking to your father like that! CRUCIO!"_

Draco screams out of unconsciousness, scaring the hell out of a concerned Potter sitting on the bed.

"Draco?! Are you alright?"

"…No… He can't… I won't…" He rambles, falling against the pillow. The world was spinning around him and he felt so faint.

"Draco? What's wrong? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah… Not see you, like… I feel all dizzy…" He mumbles.

"It's okay, Madam Promfrey will be back in a minute." Harry whispers. Right on cue, she runs in with a worried looking Professor McGonagall.

"Oh! He's awake!" Madam Pomfrey exclaims.

"Just about…" Draco mumbles while closing his eyes, trying to ease the dizziness.

"Potter? What was this about the Mark?" The headmistress asks.

"It just appeared and… Well… _Attacked _Dra- Malfoy in a way."

"How did it 'attack'?"

"Well, it kind of went through him and knocked him out…"

"I am still here, you know." Draco says, finally getting out of that dizzy spell.

"Well, Malfoy, would you care to tell us _your _side of it? I can imagine it will be more useful." McGonagall says.

"Well, as it was going through me, which hurt terribly by the way, I heard…"

"You heard what, Malfoy?"

"M-My… My father." He whispered.

"What did he say?"

He shook his head, with tears in his eyes. _Only that he wants to discuss a murder I must commit with him and the Dark Lord in the holidays._

"I-I… I can't…"

"Can't what, Draco?" Harry says in a concerned tone.

"He'd… Just… I can't tell you."

The three of them look at each other.

"Draco?" Harry whispers. Draco just shakes his head.

"Just leave it. I feel fine now, just a bit tired. Can I go?" He asks Pomfrey.

"Well… I don't know if it's wise… What do you think, Professor?"

"He seems fine now, I guess… Maybe it would be best for him to go to his room and rest." Madam Promfrey nods.

"Okay then. Harry, could you take him there? He is still a bit weak from the... From what happened."

Harry nods and looks at Draco, who just shrugs and gets out of the bed a little too quickly. He stumbles and Harry catches his arm, looking concerned.

"Draco? Are you alright?"

"Fine, just a dizzy spell. Let's go." He muttered. They walked out of the hospital wing and Draco looked at Harry amusingly.

"Uh, Harry?"

"Yes Draco?"

"You can let go of my arm now."

"R-right. Sorry about that."

They walk through the corridors, which were luckily empty due to it being dinner-time. The odd student that they did pass looked at them curiously, but soon looked away and walked off quickly when they received a Slytherin-like glare from both of the boys.

"If you weren't in school robes, one may think you were a Slytherin." Draco smirked.

"Well, I guess I am quite more of a Slytherin than you realise." He answered. Draco looked at him questioningly, but shrugged it off. _It's always a thing I can find out about later._ He thought.

Eventually, they arrived at the Slytherin Dungeons.

"Are you sure you are okay? I mean, do you want me to help you to your room, or keep you company or something?" That last part hadn't meant to come out. Draco just smirks.

"Maybe another time Harry, but I am exhausted. Tell you what, anytime you need company, just come here."

"Are you serious?"

"Well, yeah. You DID catch me and not let me fall to my death, it's the least I can do."

"Well… Sure. Hey, Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Can we be… Friends?"

"I thought we were already, but sure. I am kind of over all that childish squabbling, I don't know about you."

"Ha, yeah. So… What's the password…?"

"Anguis. Anyway, I'm off, see you Harry." And with that, he entered the Slytherin common room.

Harry was glad about this. He could finally understand what was going through that Slytherin's head… And, he admitted to himself that Draco had changed. Perhaps they could be good friends.

He walked off to the Grand Hall, bracing himself for whatever Ron had to say about him saving Draco. Whatever it would be, he knew it wouldn't be good. _God, he does need to grow up. Draco has. _He thought with a sigh as he entered the Hall, ignoring the stares everyone was giving him, and an unnoticeable glare from a certain red-haired Gryffindor.

Just in case anyone is thinking the Drarry starts this early, it doesn't, they shall be just friends for now. Thanks for reading, and maybe leave a review if you're not too busy? I appreciate it! Oh, and I'm sorry for making Ron seem like a huge dick in this. He may be like this for a while, but not through it ALL.


	4. Truth Revealed Part 2

Sorry for the longer-than-usual update! I have 11 exams coming up, so naturally I have been doing a lot of revising. And I am also sorry for any Ron fans out there; I promise he isn't going to be like this all through the story! I am also sorry if this chapter doesn't seem as good… I tried, but I am busy! It's still about 3,200 words. Hehe.

xxx

Harry took his usual seat with Hermione and Ron opposite him. They had started to forgive Ron, though Harry was still unsure if he was actually worth being friends with.

"Harry, what happened in Quidditch? We all heard some sort of yell, and next thing you know, Malfoy's broom was flying down followed by you with Malfoy on _your _broom!"

"It's a complicated story, Hermione, one which I can imagine shouldn't be told here."

"Oh, so you're not going to tell your friends, _since first year, _about something with your _rival _since first year? You've been friends with him more than me recently!" Ron snaps.

"Oh, yeah? I did say HERE, but if that's what you presume, maybe I shouldn't tell you anyway. And maybe Draco _is _a better friend than you at the moment; at least he doesn't yell and judge me for everything I do!" He then realised that everyone in the Hall was watching the fight occurring between two of the Golden Trio.

"Come on boys, leave it until later!" She said in a harsh whisper. They both ignore her and everyone else and continue.

"This is EXACTLY what I am talking about! He is a DEATH EATER, Harry! How can you trust someone like him? Are you really that stupid?!"

"Yes, I can't deny he's a death eater, but it's not like he WANTS to be one! You just think badly of him and judge him, yet you don't even know him! I don't know him fully myself, but I sure know his father isn't exactly one to be loving! And if I'M stupid, Ron, I don't know what that makes YOU!"

There was a collection of gasps from the watching crowd. Harry gets up and storms out of the Great Hall, a fuming Ron glaring at him and everyone else staring at him. He keeps walking, but then stops. He didn't even know where he would go. Then a thought came to him: Go to the one guy who isn't judging you. He starts walking again, at a slightly quicker pace, to the Slytherin Dungeons.

"Anguis." He whispered. The snake-covered door opened, revealing the large green room. He felt a bit of excitement out of this. He was in the Slytherin common room, not as Goyle, but as himself. It hadn't changed much from second year, but it certainly had some improvements. He realised that he didn't actually know where Draco's room was. He looked over at the three sets of stairs, and he thought it would seem logical that the one to the upper years' and prefects' rooms would be up the middle staircase, like they were in Gryffindor Tower. He made his way up them, and saw the layout was similar to the Gryffindor rooms, so he went up the next smaller staircase. Sure enough, there were Draco's and Pansy's rooms. He went to the one with Draco's name on it and, taking a deep breath, knocked.

"Draco? Are you in there?" He called. He didn't get a reply, but he did hear a few muffled sobs from inside the room.

"Draco?" He said softer as he opened the door.

There, by the bed, was Draco on the floor, clutching a crumpled letter, with tears stained on his face.

"H-Harry?" The curled up Slytherin whispered.

"Draco? What's wrong?"

The only reply he got was another sob. It was so strange for Harry to see Draco like this, looking so vulnerable and lost.

"Draco, tell me what's wrong." Harry said, crouching down his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"H-He… I can't do it, Harry."

"Do what, Draco?"

"…Read this letter." He whispered, handing him the paper, the ink smudged from Draco's tears. It was the one that he had received two weeks ago.

_Draco,_

_As I have been disappointed with your lack of contribution as a death eater, I have asked the Lord to give you another task, as he believes you did well with killing Dumbledore, though of course you were too weak to do that, weren't you?_

_He is still thinking of a task for you, and it will be difficult, to say the least. It will only be yours to do, Draco, so I would do this properly, if I were you. If you fail the task you are given, then I will deal with you before the Lord can, understand? I would prepare for it my boy, as it will definitely be before Christmas._

_Have a nice time at school, while you can._

_Lucius._

"Do you… Do you know what you have to do?" Harry whispered. The boy hesitated, and then nodded.

"You know… You know how I said in the hospital wing that I heard my father through that Mark?" Harry nodded. "Well, he said… He said that I am expected to kill not just one, but two people. I don't know who, I am supposed to come home and discuss it with him and the Dark Lord. I don't know what to do, Harry!" he cried, bursting into another set of tears.

"Shh, it'll be okay…" Harry murmured as he wrapped his arms around Draco, bringing him into a hug. He lent against the raven-haired boy, sobbing loudly.

"Draco, what's the matter?"

Pansy came bursting into the room, only to find Draco sobbing into the chest of the Chosen One.

"Potter?" She said, confused.

"Hello, Pansy. Care to sit down so I can explain?" Draco said, sniffing.

She takes a seat in his armchair, and looks at the two boys.

"Basically, me and Harry are friends now. We've gotten over our rivalry, isn't that right?" Harry nods.

"…Okay. Why were you crying?"

Draco sighs, and hands her the letter. She reads it all, her eyes widened.

"When did you… When did you get this?"

"Two weeks ago…" He mumbled.

"TWO WEEKS AGO?! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Pansy, I didn't know how to…" She simply sighs, and shakes her head at Harry.

"Do you know what you have to do?"

"Yeah… Harry, could you tell her?" He whispers.

"Sure… Um… Voldemort-" Draco winces. "…Wants Draco to kill two people. He doesn't know who, him and Lucius are going to tell Draco in the holidays. I guess it is a change of plans about when he has to do it…" Pansy gasps and looks at Draco.

"You… You can't go back there! Oh God, what is he going to do when you don't do it…"

"Why? Is it Voldemort you're talking about?" Harry asks.

Pansy looks at Draco.

"Does he know? About you-know-what?" He shakes his head.

"Know what?"

Pansy sighs.

"Shall I tell him, Draco? If you trust him, so do I."

"No… I will."

"Tell me what?"

Draco pauses for a moment before speaking.

"E-Ever since I can remember, father… Father has abused me. A hell of a lot." Harry's eyes widen. "He… He hits me for everything I do wrong, or just generally. Summer… Summer was the worse. I haven't even told Pansy about that night yet, I don't feel ready…"

"I… I can't believe it… That's what you were on about on the train?"

Draco nods, and allows a few tears to fall.

"We can't let you go back there…" Harry says in a stern tone. Pansy nods in agreement.

"But hang on… How can no one see...? You know."

"Concealing charm." He says, rolling his eyes. "But… I think you two should see them."

Harry and Pansy stare at him.

"Are… Are you sure Draco?" Pansy says. He nods, and then proceeds to take off his robes. He takes off his shirt at murmurs a spell. The charm vanishes, leaving the work of a villain visible on his body. Both Harry and Pansy gasp. Even though the bruises and cuts had healed quite a bit, they were still visible and covered most of the skin. Many scars, which weren't likely to heal, scattered across several parts of the body, including three on his face.

"How could he do this to you?! I will KILL him for this!" Harry says angrily. Draco shakes his head.

"No, Harry. It's not like I can't trust you or anything, but I don't want you or Pansy to get in any trouble, okay?"

"But Draco-"

"Harry, Draco's stubborn, you may as well just drop it." Harry and Draco look at her.

"What?" She says to the two boys.

"You called him Harry!" Draco exclaims. Harry nods.

"No shit!" She chuckles. "Seriously, though; if Draco trusts you, I do too. If Draco is friends with you, I will be too. You're not as annoying as I thought, anyway."

"Fair enough." Harry laughs.

"Oh, bugger! You better go, Harry, they'll be having dessert now!" Draco said.

"Alright, I'll see you, then. Thanks for letting me in, me and Ron had a fight, you see." Draco looks at him curiously, but then shrugs.

"Bye, see you tomorrow." He says.

"See you, Harry." Pansy says too

He quickly made his way out of the Slytherin common room, and up the stairs as people started to exit the Great Hall. Several of the students looked at him, clearly still curious about the row between him and Ron. A couple of Slytherins glared at him, obviously questioning why he and Draco were apparently friends. He ignored them and made his way to his own common room, ignoring the stares and a moody Ron there too.

Draco and Pansy made their way down to the common room after Harry had left and Draco did a quick concealing charm on scars which showed, to try to avoid any suspicions. Everyone looked at Draco, puzzling him. _What exactly did Harry and the Weasel fight about? _He thought. He was quickly knocked out of his thoughts, quite literally, when a fuming Crabbe and Goyle stormed over to him and shoved him hard.

"Ah! What the hell is up with you two?!" He asked, rubbing the back of his head which had hit the wall.

"What is up with US? We have the same question about you!" Goyle exclaims, with a nodding Crabbe by his side.

"Why on Earth have you become friends with Harry Potter?! Of all people, Malfoy, you choose him!" Crabbe says.

"How… How do you know about that?"

"Everyone knows, Malfoy." Blaise says from behind the other two. "Weasley and Potter were arguing in the Great Hall about it." Pansy looks at Draco with a worried expression on her face.

"Well, I have a right to be friends with who I want to be, alright? I don't give a crap about what anyone thinks about it, he's a good friend, and that is all that matters to me. He's been a better friend than any of you here, apart from Pansy!" Draco says angrily.

"Hmm… Well, I don't know about you, Crabbe, but I know of one person who you _do _give a crap about what he thinks." Crabbe smirks at his companion.

"Yes, that's right. I wonder what _he _would think." Goyle laughs.

"Ha, you wait 'til your father hears about this, Malfoy." The two boys and some other Slytherins nearby laugh, not realising how much fury Draco got from that comment.

The blonde Slytherin pounced onto Goyle, knocking him to the ground.

"Don't you DARE tell him, you bastard!" He shouts while punching the boy several times, feeling weird about not being on the receiving end for once. He wasn't in control for long before Crabbe pulled Draco off of Goyle and threw him against the nearest wall, punching him senseless. As Draco was hurt already, the pain was twice as bad. Pansy knew this and attempted to throw the large boy off him, but to no prevail. To Draco's luck, Professor McGonagall had heard the racket and rushed down to the common room immediately.

"VINCENT CRABBE! Get off him NOW!" She yelled at him. The Slytherin did as he was told, smirking down at the beaten boy on the floor.

"How DARE you hit another person like an animal! 60 points will be taken from you, and you have detention every night for a MONTH! Do you hear me?!"

"But miss, Malfoy hit Gregory first…" Crabbe started.

"I don't care WHO started it! Mr Malfoy is the one on the floor now, clearly in a worse state! Quit staring, you lot! Off to bed, all of you!" Everyone did as they were told, except from Pansy who was helping Draco up.

"Are you alright, Draco?" Professor McGonagall said concerned.

"I'm fine, just a little bit of blood. Nothing major."

"If you say so… Right, up to bed, both of you."

They nod and climb the staircases to their rooms, getting a few glares on the way. They ignore them and make their way to their rooms.

"Do you want any company, Draco? I don't mind." Pansy smiles.

"I'm fine, Pansy, don't worry about me. I am pretty tired from earlier, actually, I think I'll try and get some sleep. She nods at him.

"Alright, sweet dreams, Draco."

"Goodnight."

He opens the door and gets inside, making his way to the bathroom to clean off the blood. He'd only have a couple of bruises, nothing he couldn't put up with. _Wow, it's been such a long day…_ He thought. He undresses himself and puts on his nightclothes, and gets into bed. He thought sleep would take a while to come, but he drifted into a slumber only minutes after getting into the bed.

xxx

"_Hey!" The little blonde-haired boy smiled at a little red-haired boy, who looked the same age._

"_Oh, hello! What's your name?" The other boy smiled at him._

"_Draco! What's yours?"_

"_Ronald, but everyone calls me Ron." He smiled._

"_It's nice to meet you, Ron!"_

"_You too, Draco!"_

"_DRACO MALFOY! What are you doing talking to a scum like that?!" Lucius runs over, pulling the shaking blonde towards him roughly._

"_I-I just want to be friends…" He said glumly._

"_The Weasleys are NOT friends! Do you hear me?!"_

"_Y-yes father…"_

"_Ron? What are you doing near the Malfoys? Get away from them!" Molly Weasley rushes over._

"_We're friends!"_

"_No, the Malfoys aren't friends, they're bad people. Understand, Ron?"_

"_Yes, mum, I understand."_

"_Come, Draco, we do not speak to scum like this." Lucius says._

"_Y-yes, father, I'm coming…"_

_Lucius pulled him by his hand around the nearest corner, by Narcissa. He looks around quickly before slapping the child across the face, hard._

"_F-father, that hurt…" Draco whispered, tears forming in his eyes. Narcissa sighs._

"_What has that dreadful boy done now, Lucius?"_

"_He thinks it's okay to be friends with the Weasleys!"_

_She averts her eyes and narrows them at the trembling boy._

"_What have we told you about the Weasleys, Draco?"_

"_B-But I didn't know…"_

"_NOW you do, and if you ever speak to a Weasley in a manner like that again, God knows what I'll do to you! Understand, Draco?" He said in a threatening whisper._

"_I-I understand…"_

xxx

Draco wakes up, gasping for air. It wasn't the worst memory of his childhood, but it had been the first time Lucius had hit him. He had only been three years old, and just wanted some friends. Luckily, Ron didn't remember this and his parents had pretty much forgotten about it. But, like every other time Lucius had hit him, Draco remembered it bright and clear, and his dreams made sure of that.

He reached over to grab his wand from its usual place on his bedside cabinet, as it was too dark for him to see his clock.

"Lumos." He whispered, his eyes getting a little blinded by the bright light coming from his wand. He points his wand over to the clock and saw that the time was only 2:05. He sighed and released the light. He wasn't really tired, and he didn't want to be hit by another memory anyway. A sudden idea hit him, and he grinned.

With a flick of his wand, he turned the main light on and went over to his rather large bookcase. He scanned the shelves until he found the book his was looking for, named "Mastering the Art of an Animagus". He had been studying this for a long time, and finally thought his was ready. Grinning, he thought of the animal he had been studying. He shifted all thoughts aside of the embarrassing ordeal of him being transformed into a ferret in fourth year and focused. When he felt he was ready, he picked up his wand and moved it round his body, imagining the animal. He suddenly felt a strange tingling sensation through his body. He smiled slightly, closing his eyes as he let the transformation take place. When the feeling stopped, he opened his eyes and looked into his mirror. If he could gasp, he would have.

The spell had worked perfectly. Draco was now in the form of a gorgeous white coloured fox, with big grey eyes on a cute face. He lifted up his right front paw, amazed at how easy it was to control his new body. He felt happier than he had done in a long time, and was also very proud of himself as not everyone could manage this sort of magic. He thought of what Pansy and Harry would say if they were to come in and find a white fox in place of Draco. Grinning slightly in his animal form, he starting walking round his bedroom and bathroom, eager to try out his four legs. He made the decision that as soon as he was fully used to his Animagus form, he would sneak outside, where he would have a large space away from everyone to run around. After being in this form for about a half hour, he starting feeling a little tired. He sat with his front paws in between his back legs, and closed his big eyes, imagining his human form. He felt a similar tingling sensation and soon enough was back to his human form, just how he was before, with his wand in his hand. Smiling and feeling more carefree than ever, he settled back onto his bed and flicked the light out with his wand. Even though he never really went back sleep after waking up in the night, his first ever transformation naturally left a bit of an impact on his consciousness. Plus, he had Care for Magical Creatures first, which he definitely didn't want to be tired for. He yawned and placed his wand back onto its rightful place on his bedside table. He laid his head onto his pillow and fell asleep in seconds. For the first time in many years, his sleep was free of nightmares, and instead was blessed with a dream of him running through a beautiful forest as an equally beautiful white fox. He just ran and ran through the leaves, feeling the refreshing cool breeze and a thrill running through his body.

He woke up later that morning, for once ready to tackle the day ahead of him. Naturally though, he knew that he would still be treated unfairly by the Slytherins who had lost their interest in him and the Gryffindors who were angry at him for befriending their Golden Boy. That was enough to remove his grin from his face, instead to be replaced by a frown and a sigh, and him wondering how they would treat him today. Bracing himself for the worst, he got ready and made his way to meet Pansy across the hall.

xxx

Sorry if this chapter bored you, I did try. Please review anyway; feedback is always nice for me to read! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	5. Draco in Denial

I am _so _for taking so long to post this. I have had so many exams, it's unbelievable. My friends had about 7 or 8, what did I have? 11! God, it was horrible. Except from the two art ones… I actually enjoyed them. Strange me. I'd say I have made it up to you by doing an extra-long chapter, but it's only about 2,900 words… Sorry. Forgive me? Oh, and not much happens in this chapter, I guess. Enjoy it anyway!

xxx

"Good morning, Pansy!" Draco smiles when he knocks on her door.

"Morning, Draco. Wow, you're certainly in a better mood than last night! Care to enlighten me why?" She replies with a grin.

"That, my dear Pansy, will have to wait for another time! It's already 7:45, shall we go for breakfast?"

"Might as well. Hey, you should be in a mood like this more often; it suits you!" He laughs at this as they make their way down the stairs to the common room.

Crabbe and Goyle were in the corner glaring at him as they went down the stairs. He smirked as he saw a bruise forming on Goyle's face, which was rather large.

"Oi, Malfoy!" Draco sighed and turned to the annoying first year.

"Yes, Dickens?"

"Why the hell are you friends with Harry Potter? You didn't answer Crabbe yesterday!"

Everyone in the common room looked at him, wondering what his answer will be.

"Because I am, Dickens. Problem? Personally, I'd rather be friends with him than most of you here. It's quite nice having a couple of friends who don't stab you in the back at the first opportunity they get." And with that, he and Pansy walked out of the common room to the Great Hall.

xxx

He and Pansy sat at the table, further away from their usual spots. He sighed when he saw the looks Harry was getting from most of the Gryffindors, especially from Ron Weasley, and even a few from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.

"I don't see why people are making such a big deal out of me and Harry being friends. I know it's a change from the rivalry we've had over the years, but surely there's other things to be more shocked about?" He said to Pansy quietly, who sighs.

"Neither do I, Draco. I don't see why they can't just get over it, personally. Don't they realise that it might actually help with the war? You and Harry would make an excellent team."

"I haven't actually thought of that, Pansy, but you do have a point there. We are quite gifted with our charms, and we're both Pars- … We both have the same… Abilities too." _I really need to stop spilling my secrets out._ He scolded himself.

"Draco, you're a…" She looks around and lowers her voice to a quiet whisper. "…Parselmouth?!"

He hesitates, before nodding slowly.

"Jesus, Draco! You do realise how rare that is!" She exclaims, quietly of course.

"Yes, I do. In the Malfoy family, about every tenth person acquires it. My father thought it had skipped me as he thinks I can't talk to snakes, but the truth is I kept it hidden from him because I would prove to be an even higher value to the Dark Lord."

"That's incredible, Draco… Wow. You've got to tell Harry!" She says excitedly.

"Might as well, considering I seem to be on a role of blurting out my secrets!" He chuckles.

xxx

"You're a WHAT?!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!"

Draco and Harry were walking down to Hagrid's hut together, ready for their Care of Magical Creatures lesson, which they luckily only shared with a few other students.

"Sorry… But you're a Parselmouth…?" Harry whispers.

"Yes, I am." Draco grins.

"How come you're keeping it a secret?"

"Well, I guess I've always thought that I would be more of a value to the Dark Lord or something." Harry nods in understanding.

"(You can understand me then, Draco?)"

"(Loud and clear, Harry!)"

(All Parselmouth in this story will be written like that.)

They both grin at each other and join the rest of the students at the hut. Since the incident with Buckbeak in third year, many students weren't very confident in taking Care of Magical Creatures. This class only consisted of Harry, Draco, Luna, Hermione, Neville, Ron and a couple of Hufflepuffs they didn't know very well. Draco was rather happy with this; less people meant less stares. He was used to the permanent Ron glare by now.

"Alright, class! I have a very special lesson planned for you today! Please follow me!" Hagrid says, only looking at Draco and Harry for a brief second before leading the way. The eight students followed the half giant into the forest.

"Harry! Wait up!"

Hermione runs up from behind Harry and Draco, stopping by Harry's side.

"What is it, Hermione?"

"I just wanted to say I am sorry if it seems like I've been ignoring you. I obviously don't really agree with… This." She gestures to Draco. "But I don't want that to stop us from being friends."

"I am okay with you, Hermione. It's just... Ron." They all look ahead at Ron walking by Neville.

"I know, he is taking it too far. I better go and catch up with him. See you, Harry." She pauses before looking at Draco. "Malfoy."

"See you, Granger." He says with a small smile.

She looks surprised before smiling back and nodding. A few minutes later, they arrive at a landscape which looked oddly familiar.

"Hagrid, isn't this the place from third year?" Hermione asks.

"Yes, that's right! Because…" He waves a hand over to the left. The pupils look in the direction of his hand and gasp. There, standing tall and proud, was Buckbeak.

"Hagrid? How? I thought he was banned from the school premises…" Harry says surprised.

"He WAS banned, yes Harry. But, Malfoy here helped me arrange to get him back by clearing all charges, isn't that right?" Draco nods, smiling a little, but wincing slightly at the thought of what his father had said (and done, naturally) when he did this. Harry sees this and squeezes his arm slightly and smiles at him in understanding. _He looks so nice when he smiles, those emeralds he has for eyes light up perfectly… _Draco almost groans at himself when that thought came across his mind. _Come on, Draco, you got over that crush ages ago. Time to move on. _His thoughts were soon interrupted by Ron.

"Malfoy did that?!" He spluttered.

"Yes, Ron. Anyway, we're going to do things differently this time! After everyone has gained Buckbeak's trust, you will ride him in pairs. You are all pretty much standing in pairs now, actually, so that works." He looks at Harry and Draco again before speaking once more. "How about you two go first?"

Harry takes a step towards Buckbeak and bows to him. The Griffin bows back and happily nudges Harry with his beak when Harry walks to him, clearly remembering the boy. Harry laughs delightedly and gently strokes the grey feathers.

"Alright, now you Malfoy…" Hagrid says hesitantly. Everyone looks at the Slytherin, naturally remembering the incident from third year. _Too bad they don't know of that night. _He thought, smirking slightly. He takes a step forward and bows to the Griffin, who, to everyone's amazement, makes a happy noise and bows back for a second before walking to the blonde and rubbing his face into Draco's robes. He laughs and strokes the Griffin joyfully. _No point in keeping that mask. I'm friends with the Golden Boy of Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake!_

"Long time no see, buddy." He whispers.

"…Right then. Come on you two, let's get you on there."

He puts Harry on first, followed by Draco who slips his arms round the smaller boys' waist. He could feel the excitement going through him. He didn't chance flying him that night, so he was looking forward to this experience.

"You boys ready?" He receives two nods and sends the Griffin off into the air.

The blonde laughs and yells as they fly into the sky, making Harry chuckle too. The glide across the Black Lake, just as Harry did in third year. Draco looked into the clear water and smiles at the reflection of him and Harry. He never felt so carefree, so _happy _before. It was a good feeling, one he wanted to remember for the rest of his life. Harry turned around to look at the Slytherin and smiles. Not one of concern, not one of relief, just a big, friendly smile, one which made Draco blush slightly and look away. _No, no, no… You got over that crush years ago, Draco. Get over it._ The raven haired boy in front of him looks at him with a raised eyebrow, but just shrugs it off soon after.

The ride on Buckbeak was much too short for both of them. Everyone stares at the laughing duo as they dismount the griffin and stand by it.

"Well done you two! Alright, who is going next?"

"If Malfoy can bloody do it, so can I. Hermione?" Ron grumbles. She smiles at him and nods her head, but when he bows to Buckbeak she looks over at Draco and Harry and rolls her eyes, earning a smirk back. Soon enough, the couple were mounted on the griffin and they were shot into the air. Draco sighed in relief.

"Oh thank Merlin, I've already had enough glares off him today to last a lifetime!" Harry chuckles at this, and Hagrid smiles slightly.

"So, you two…" He starts.

"Are friends." Harry finishes for him, with Draco nodding in agreement.

"…Right, this will take a while getting used to. I am guessing Ron is holding a grudge?"

"Yes, but Hermione isn't."

"Her I don't mind, it's Weasley I do." Draco mutters.

"Well, I guess he'll come around…"

"Maybe, but probably not soon, Hagrid. You know how stubborn he can be." Harry says.

"I just wish he would just get over it. I am tired of wearing that mask, but I don't want to be treated like a parasite either." Draco sighs.

"Mask?" Hagrid asks aloud.

"Yeah, the whole "I am a pure-blooded bitch who hates everyone who isn't like me, especially Harry Potter and his friends, and I love being a death eater" act. It's tiresome, and I don't think there's much point in keeping it now that I'm friends with Harry."

"So… You don't actually have a problem with muggle-borns?" Draco shakes his head.

They had just realised that everyone was staring at them, and, naturally, the atmosphere of the class started to become a little awkward. Luckily, the griffin and two Griffindors were just coming down onto the ground.

"Well done you two!" Hagrid exclaims.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron laughs.

"It was certainly thrilling." Hermione adds, smiling.

"Great! Alright, next are Neville and Luna…" Draco had stopped paying attention to the class. He kept glancing over at the emerald eyed boy standing next to him, a slight blush forming on his cheeks every time Harry caught his eye and smiled. _Oh dear God. It's bad enough being friends with him, but Draco Malfoy having a crush on Harry Potter? This couldn't possibly get any worse… _

xxx

Dinner in the Great Hall that night was certainly awkward for Draco. It wasn't so bad for Harry because, being the Chosen One, people couldn't stay mad at him for long. Even Ron wasn't as bad with him after a stern word from Hermione, as long as he himself didn't have to be around Draco. But for him, the Slytherins all glared at their so-called "Slytherin Prince", except from Pansy, naturally. The Gryffindors seemed to have calmed down a bit after being told off by Harry, even Ron stopped glaring as much, but he still got a few curious looks from the members of his Care of Magical Creatures class. And, to top it all off, every time he and a certain raven-haired Gryffindor caught eye contact, he had to look away before a blush would allow itself to form across he usually pale cheeks. With a smile, of course, it's the least he could do to try to hide any suspicion his classmates may get. Nobody seemed to realise as he is good at hiding something, except from Pansy, who had been his best friend long enough to notice when something is a little off.

"Draco? Is everything alright?"

As soft as it was, Pansy's voice startled him straight out of his daydreams.

"Ah! What?" Draco blurted.

"I was asking if you're alright!" She laughed.

"Oh… Yeah, I am. Just… Um, daydreaming. Don't worry, I'm fine." He babbled.

"Is there something you're not telling me, Draco?" She said with a wink.

"What? No, no there isn't! I was just daydreaming about… Um… Riding Buckbeak earlier. It was great." _Yeah, and so was the guy you had your arms wrapped around._ He accidently released a groan and placed his head into his arms. He didn't raise his head again until he heard Pansy start to giggle.

"What? What is it?" He moaned.

"If I didn't know any better, Draco, I would think you're in love!" She giggled.

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" He said in a harsh whisper, looking round them. Luckily, the other Slytherins sat quite further away from them, and some of them were gone as dinner was almost over anyway.

"Ah, so it is true!" She giggled again.

"W-what?! No! I just don't… Want any rumours going round!" _How bad would that be, people discovering you are in love with the-boy-who-lived?_ He sighed, and decided if she wasn't such a good friend normally, he would have been tempted to kill her. Not literally, though.

"Hmm. Who is he, Draco?" She winked at the blonde who looked a little like a goldfish with his mouth open.

"I. Don't. Like. Any. Of. The. Guys. Here. Okay?!" But his friend saw where his eyes glanced when he said it.

"You like Harry? Aw, that is so sweet!" She cooed.

"No! I don't like Harry! I just… Um…"

"You denying it just makes it even more adorable!"

"I-I am not denying anything! And I am NOT adorable!"

"Aw, you've gone a little red there, Draco! Bless!"

"Pansy, stop it!"

"Not until you admit that you like Harry…"

"I don-"

"You look so cute right now, Draco. You don't look as hot when you're blushing! I thought your favourite colour is green, not red?"

"Pansy, st-"

"Unless you like red because it's a Gryffindor colour and reminds you of him. N'aww! That is so sweet!"

"Alright, alright! I like Harry, okay?! Happy?!"

"Very! This is so unbelievably cute, Draco!"

"You said you'll stop if I admit it!"

_Meanwhile…_

"Me and Hermione are going to go and… Do homework. Is that okay, Harry?" Ron asks. Harry responds with a nod.

"Thanks. See you, mate!"

"Yeah, bye Harry."

He smiled and waved goodbye to his friends. He was eating quite slowly today for some reason, even though the dessert was his favourite, chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice-cream. He looked over at the Slytherin table and caught Draco's silver eyes. He smiled and got a quick smile in return before the blonde quickly looked down at his plate. His very empty plate. He didn't have time to question this, however, as a figure had just approached his side.

"Um, Harry?"

"What is it, Neville?"

The boy hesitated before placing himself in the seat beside him.

"Well… You know Ginny?" He started, earning a nod in return.

"Well… I… I really like her, Harry, ever since the Yule Ball. I have kept my distance because of you and Dean but… Now she is single, I want to… You know. But I don't know how to tell her, Harry!" Neville said quietly.

"So you want my advice, right?" Neville nods.

"I was thinking because you two were together for a little while, you could tell me how you… Well… Told her."

Harry nods and thinks for a moment. His eyes looked over at the Slytherin table once again like it was a reflex. He looks at the blonde with his head in his arms and an amused looking Pansy looked at him with a wide grin on her face.

"Well, to be honest, I never really liked her properly, but I think the best way for you to tell her is get her a nice bouquet of flowers, orchids are her favourites, and just tell her that you see her more than a friend and you would love to be able to go on a date sometime. Trust me, we've always been good friends and I've learned a lot about her." Harry smiles.

"But what if she rejects me? I don't think I'd be able to cope with the humiliation…"

"I am certain she won't. She's always had a soft spot for you, Neville." He says with a wink, making the other boys' eyes light up.

"Thank you so much, Harry!"

"It's no problem at all, Neville. I'm sure if you ask her, Hermione wouldn't mind transfiguring some orchids for you." Neville nods, and quickly says goodbye before walking quickly out of the Great Hall. Harry smiles to himself. He knew they would work out, she has liked him for years too.

Harry looks at Pansy and Draco once more to find them Pansy shooting glances in his direction a lot and a red faced Draco looking like he is doing his best _not _to look. She looked rather pleased with herself and even more amused than before, while Draco looked so embarrassed Harry was sure he just wanted to disappear off of the face of the earth. He chuckled to himself, exited the Great Hall and made his way to the Gryffindor Tower, accepting that there would most likely always be something he wouldn't understand about his two new Slytherin friends.

xxx

I wasn't going to start the Drarry this early, but it kind of… Happened. Well, it hasn't really started properly yet, it's only Draco having a crush. For now, hehe. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it's now the Easter holidays, yay! More time on this story! Review, maybe? I am a loser and reviews make me happy. I'm only kidding. Well, reviews DO make me happy… Hehehe.


	6. A Secret no Longer

Yay, a quick update! The chapter itself is also 3,504 words, the longest chapter yet! Yippee! I would just like to say, sorry for many mistakes in previous chapters, such as my spelling of McGonagall and me saying there are 8 years in school for some strange reason… And also the random Potions class, which you should ignore, because it is only with Gryffindor and Slytherin. Seriously, I have no idea what was going through my mind! I guess I was tired… It was about one in the morning. I might change it sometime, but this IS their last year and I do have basic knowledge.

**Warning: **This story contains_slash. _That means _boy love. _If that is a problem to you, I recommend you don't read this. If that isn't a problem, stick around!

xxx

Draco could not literally get Harry off his mind that evening. He realised that he had been pushing aside his feelings for a long time, but confessing it aloud made he dwell on it more. It probably didn't help that when they were hanging around in Draco's room (they generally preferred Draco's room to Pansy's as Draco kept it immensely tidy), Pansy kept teasing him. It went along the lines of this:

"You have potions tomorrow, don't you Draco?"

"Yes, why?"

"I was just wondering if you were starting on a love potion or something yet. That would be perfect for your partner, wouldn't it?"

And also…

"Draco? World to Draco!"

"W-what? Oh, sorry Pansy."

"Ah, daydreaming about your future boyfriend, are we? You two would make fantastic babies, I must say."

"WHAT?! It's just a crush, we won't be having babies!"

"Oh. That sure is a shame. Well, I guess you two fucking is enough."

"P-Pansy!"

"What?"

"…Just shut up, Pansy."

He knew she didn't mean it in any way against him, it was just a bit of teasing, but it was enough to make him constantly think about him once she was gone. He sighed and turned over in his sheets for the eleventh time. Sleep came to him eventually though, in the early hours of the morning.

"_It is such a laugh that bloody Potter is in the Tri Wizard Tournament,_ _almost more than you would be, Draco! I hope that it kills him, preferably a nice, long and painful death_, _don't you agree, Draco?"_

_The blonde teen shot a glare at his father, regretting it immediately when a gloved hand slapped him hard across the face._

"_Draco? Draco! Wake up!"_

_Draco opened his grey eyes and looked into an emerald pair beside him._

"_Another nightmare?" The boy besides him stroked him gently in circles around his back._

"_Y-yeah. I'm fine, Harry, don't worry."_

"_Are you sure?"_

_To show just how sure he was, the Slytherin moved a little more closer to him and planted a deep kiss on Harry's pink lips. Harry returned the kiss passionately and wrapped his arms around the taller boy. The two stayed like that for a long time before Draco finally hesitantly pulled away._

"_I love you so much, Harry."_

"_I love you too, Draco, with all my heart."_

Draco's eyes slowly started to drift open. He looked over next to him and sighed when he saw an empty space. He always hated waking up from a dream _in _a dream; it always made it seem twice as real. _If only it was. _He thought to himself.

No, he didn't want anything serious like that. It was just a small crush… Right? Yeah, just a crush.

He looked at the time, seeing it was 7:00. He was quite pleased with waking up at normal times; it was something he hoped to get back into the habit of doing. He closed his eyes and almost drifted off before Pansy came knocking at his door.

"Draco? Are you awake?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Pansy came into the room, already dressed in her robes. She was drying her hair with a wand as she was walking.

"Wow, it isn't like you to be ready this early!"

"It isn't like you _not _to be ready this early. I think we must be swapping roles!" Pansy replies. Draco chuckles at this and picks up his own robes.

"Would you mind waiting here for a few minutes while I have a quick shower?" Draco asks.

"Go ahead, I don't mind."

He smiles and goes into his bathroom. Pansy finished drying her hair and puts it into her pocket. Suddenly curious, she shuffles over to his trunk and opens it. She felt a little guilty for looking through his things, but her curiosity got the better of her. There wasn't much in there, except from some clothes and his jewellery box. She took the box out and closed the trunk. It was very beautiful and had a snake wrapped around it with beautiful emeralds as its eyes. She soon figured out that the snake was some sort of lock, which she wasn't sure on how to open.

"Do my belongings fascinate you, Pansy?" Draco smirked, making her jump a little.

"Um… Sorry." He laughs at this while picking up his wand to dry his blonde hair.

"I don't really mind. Pretty, isn't it?" She nodded.

"How do you open it?" She asked him.

"Very easily. Well, if you're me or Harry, that is." She passed the box over to him.

"(Open.)" He says simply. Well, simple if you can understand and speak Parseltongue. The snake on the box hissed and slithered onto his wrist, where it stayed still once more.

"That is amazing, Draco!" She exclaimed.

"I suppose so. Anyway, shall we get off to breakfast? For once in my life, I am starving."

"Sure, let's go."

xxx

Breakfast for Draco wasn't much different than dinner the previous evening, except that the looks from his Care of Magical Creatures class had died down and Pansy wasn't teasing him as much, though she still grinned and gestured towards the Gryffindor table a couple of times.

"Pansy, do you mind? I am trying to actually enjoy eating something and all I can see is you twitching your head towards the Gryffindor table." He muttered.

"Sorry, I just find it so cute."

"Yes, we have gone over that already."

"I can so imagine you two as a couple. He is bi-sexual, isn't he?"

"Yes, but he probably won't ever fall for me."

"Aw, don't be so negative!"

"Just because you most likely find the thought of me and him hot or something."

"…No comment on that, Draco."

The rest of breakfast carried on like that before it was finally time for their first lesson; Defence Against the Dark Arts, which all of the seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors shared. Pansy and Draco arrived there quite early, followed by the Golden Trio.

"Hi there, Draco. Hey, Pansy." Harry says.

"Hey Harry." Draco replies. Pansy nods to him in greeting and smiles. Hermione looks at him for a moment.

"Malfoy." She nods to him.

"Granger." Draco nods back, stifling back a laugh when he heard Ron groan "Not you as well!"

"Alright everyone, I have an important lesson for you all today so you better listen carefully, and that applies to everyone." Professor Lupin announced.

"I am aware that you all remember the Boggart from third year, correct?" The class nods at him. Draco remembered all too well. He was immensely glad when Remus had ended the class early, preventing everyone witnessing Lucius Malfoy being his son's greatest fear.

"Well, in recent times, Boggarts have been developing, in a sense. There have only been a few who have developed fully, which are all mostly within the Dark Lord's power and are being used to his advantage. Luckily, there are only six which exist. The Ministry has one and so does Hogwarts, in this very room. The other four have been obtained by the Dark Lord."

"How exactly have they developed, Professor?" Hermione asks.

"I was just getting to that, Miss Granger. This Boggart first transforms into your greatest fear, like normal Boggarts do, but then transforms into your most terrifying memory you have connected with your fear. For anyone who has a bad memory connected with their fear will naturally have more of a trouble dealing with this Boggart. Some of you, however, may find this almost as easy as an original Boggart."

Draco's eyes widened and he started trembling very slightly. Both Pansy and Harry, who were standing either side of the blonde, looked at him appearing a little worried.

"Fuck, what am I going to do? This is just what I bloody need…" Draco whispered very quietly to them.

"Care to share what you just said with the rest of the class, Mister Malfoy?" Professor Lupin asks in an annoyed tone.

"Not really, sir."

"Five points from Slytherin for talking when I am speaking and for your cheek. Anyway, the spell for this Boggart is NOT _Ridiculous, _but instead, _Obliviscere. _Everyone got that? Remember; _Obliviscere. _And try not to wait around; it can become more difficult the longer you watch the memory. As this lesson is more serious than the one you had in third year, I will be picking the order of you to do this. Mister Weasley, if you may?"

The red-haired boy gulped before placing himself in line with the box containing the Boggart.

"Are you ready?" Remus asked, getting a nod in reply. He opened the container, and large spider scuttled out before transforming into the memory of when he and Harry were speaking to Aragog and dozens of other spiders were making their way down to them. Ron watched in horror at the many spiders making their way around the two second year. _"Know any spells?" _His younger self asked Harry in a worried voice. _"One, but it's not big enough for all of them." _The young Harry replied. Ron shook his head, and raised his wand.

"Ob… _Obliviscere!" _The Boggart was blasted by a ray of light back into the container, which Remus quickly closed.

"Great job Ron, exactly how it is done! Hmm… Harry, how about you?"

Harry nodded, gave Draco's arm a quick squeeze before stepping out in front of the box. He was almost certain it would be Voldemort, he had gotten over his fear of Dementors a while ago.

"Ready, Harry?"

"Sure, just do it."

Just as he thought, "Voldemort" had stepped out of the container. The Boggart transformed into the scene at the graveyard, where Cedric died. Harry only watched him and the Dark Lord for a few seconds before coming to his senses.

"_Obliviscere!" _He yelled. The Boggart yet again was sent back into the container, where Remus closed it once more.

"Very good, Harry. Okay, let's have a Slytherin next, shall we?" Draco gulped and silently prayed that it wouldn't be him, _anyone _but him.

"Hmm… Mister Malfoy, you shall go next." _Shit._

Draco froze to his spot, eyes wide open in terror.

"Are you scared of being spoilt too much, Malfoy?" Ron scoffed.

"Quiet, Ron. Malfoy, come on, we don't have all day." Remus sighed.

Draco hesitantly put one foot in front of the other until his was standing in the right spot.

"Ready?" Draco paused for a moment, before slowly nodding. _This is not going to go well at all... _He thought. Remus opened the container. Of course, the Boggart came out of it in the form of Lucius Malfoy, making a few whispers and gasps go around the room. As Draco expected, the Boggart soon transformed into the memory of that dreaded summer evening.

"_You WILL look at me when I'm_ _talking to you, boy!" _A collect of gasps went across the classroom as they saw Lucius hit Draco across the back of his head with his cane. Draco just stood there, transfixed at the scene infolding in front of him. The Boggart switched to the next assault, as if it was enjoying itself.

"_You will pay for talking to your father like that! CRUCIO!" _The class stared, most in horror, at the illusion of Draco screaming, his body curled up in pain. The Boggart showed a few more beatings before the scene of Lucius dragging a sobbing Draco by his collar to The Room. They all watched the second minute-long _Crucio _and, finally, how Lucius hit him with _Sectumsempra. _Some of the students screamed at the sight of Draco covered in so much blood and bruises.

"MALFOY! SAY THE GODDAMN SPELL!" Lupin yelled at the transfixed boy. Draco couldn't do anything, though. He felt a dizzy and faint sensation before everything went dark. Harry rushed forward and caught the blonde before he fell. Remus hurried and stood in front of the duo. The Boggart transformed into a scene of a young boy, which everyone presumed was him, and a large werewolf snarling at him. Pansy quickly rushed over to the container, ready to close it.

"_Obvliviscere!" _The Boggart was sent back into the container yet again, which Pansy shut quickly. There was a long silence before anyone spoke.

"Professor, he is burning up, shall I take him to Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked.

"…Yes, I think that would be best. Hurry, now."

Harry nodded and lifted up Draco, once again bridal style. He noticed that the Slytherin was still underweight and found it easy to walk with him. Pansy opened the door for him.

"I will do my best to explain what Draco told us, but I didn't even know about this." She murmured to him. Harry sighed, nodded, and quickly headed up to the hospital wing.

xxx

Madam Pomfrey was just tending to a second year Ravenclaw when she saw Harry, for the second time, walk into the room with Draco in his arms.

"What happened this time, Potter?" She sighed, helping him place Draco inside the sheets.

"Well… In Defence Against the Dark Arts, we were being taught about these developed Boggarts…" She nods with understanding.

"His memory was… Well… His father abusing him, badly…"

"ABUSING HIM?! That monster of a man! I always wondered where he got those scars from when he had to spend the night here…" She said angrily.

"Yes… And he passed out."

"I can see that, Potter. Oh my gosh, the poor boy…"

Professor Lupin, McGonagall and Pansy quickly walked into the infirmary to Draco's bed.

"Oh my dear God, I cannot believe what you told me, Remus. The poor boy. How can a father do that to his son?"

"Because he is a heartless, good-for-nothing piece of shit, that's why." Draco mumbles.

"Draco? You're awake!" Harry exclaimed.

"Well observed, Harry." Draco sniggered.

"This is certainly no laughing matter, Mister Malfoy. Why haven't you told anyone about this?" McGonagall asked.

"Well… It's not like I haven't told _anyone…_" He mumbled. The professor's eyes naturally landed on his two friends.

"You two should have known better about telling someone about something as serious as this! Lucius Malfoy is already a wanted criminal, but I am almost certain that this will convince the Ministry even further to take action."

"Well, Harry only found out last night, and I only did at the beginning of term." Pansy said.

"But this is something-" Professor McGonagall started.

"Minerva, imagine if you were them. Something this big has just been told to them, and I can imagine that he told them not to tell anyone about this…" The three students nod at them. "Exactly. They probably thought, both being close friends to Draco, that keeping it secret like he asked was the right thing to do."

"Alright, I see your point, Remus. But, as this is something which has to be stopped, we do need to inform the Ministry. Nothing bad will happen, Draco, it is for the best. Do you understand?" Draco nods. "Good. I can imagine they will want to come and ask further questions, to get a better understanding of what is going on. I will start on that owl now then. Are you alright to go to lunch and the rest of your lessons?"

"Yeah, I should be fine. I guess I just passed out from the impact of it all." The professor nods.

"Good. Alright, lunch starts in five minutes, so there isn't much point in going just yet." She winks and makes her leave. Remus looks at the three students.

"Alright, I'll be seeing you three later then. And Draco?" The blonde looks at him. "Hang in there, okay?" He nods at the Professor, who smiles at them all and leaves.

"What was THAT all about?" All four pairs of eyes gazed over at the Ravenclaw, who everyone seemed to have forgotten about. Draco bursts out laughing, followed by Harry and Pansy, and a grin from Pomfrey.

"Never you mind, Richard!" The nurse shakes her head at him.

"Oh sweet Merlin. This is going to be all over the Daily Profit soon enough, isn't it?" Draco groaned.

"I'm afraid so, Draco." Harry sighs.

xxx

The rest of the day went rather slowly for Draco. Part of him was relieved that finally something may be done to stop his father, but another part of him worried endlessly about the threats which Lucius said would happen if he dared tell a soul. Now that McGonagall had informed the Ministry, what would happen? He was scared to know. Not only all of this, but news spread fast, and soon enough the whole school knew of his abuse. He forever heard whispers about him in his lessons and in between them, such as;

"Did you hear?! Draco Malfoy is actually abused! No wonder he has always been a git to everyone!"

"I cannot believe it… As well as being a Death Eater, he has to deal with all of that… The poor guy."

"Who would have known? I always thought he was just a spoiled brat, personally. I really don't know what to think of him now I know what he has been going through…"

Everywhere he went, there were always stares at him. If he knew just that very morning that it would be like this later on in the day, he would never have complained. Mixed looks of confusion, sorrow, sympathy, pity and even guilt followed him for the rest of the day.

When it finally came to dinner, he and Pansy were stopped at the entrance by Harry.

"Hey, you two. I was just wondering, would you like to sit with us?" He asked, gesturing over to his friends and three empty spaces.

"This is… Random. How come?" Draco wondered.

"Well, I would like to sit with you both, and my friends want to get to know you better, I guess. It's completely up to you, though."

"Oh, why the hell not? Draco, you with me?" Pansy says.

"Might as well." Draco replied.

The three sat down, Draco in the middle with Pansy and Harry either side with Ron and Hermione facing them.

"Hey, guys." Harry smiled.

"Hi, Harry." Hermione smiled. Ron simply nods, with his mouth full.

"Uh… Hi." Draco says awkwardly. Ron finishes his mouthful and looks at him seriously.

"Look, Malfoy, one of the reasons I said to Harry it's fine for you to sit with us is because… Well… I want to apologise." Both Draco and Pansy look at him with astonishment. Harry and Hermione, knowing of this from earlier, ate silently and let him speak.

"I know, it seems strange of me saying this. Hell, I am shocked at it myself! But recently, I have been such a huge git to you. I know you've been like that in previous years, but I was too stubborn to accept that you've changed and become friends with Harry. Not for one second did I even try and think of how it must be for _you. _And for that, I am very sorry. I hope you accept my apology."

"…I do, Weasley." Draco smiled.

"Good. And, also, as long as Harry trusts you, so do I." Ron says.

"Same here with me." Hermione adds.

"Thanks guys, it means a lot to me." Draco said softly.

"Same here to me." Pansy says.

"Can I have your attention, please?"

Everybody's eyes looked in the headmistress' direction.

"Due to… Recent discoveries, that I have noticed you've certainly found out about…" Most pairs of eyes landed on Draco. The Professor coughed impatiently to regain everyone's attention. "Quidditch has been cancelled until further notice and so has the Hogsmede trips."

"Aw, thanks a lot, Malfoy!" Goyle groaned.

"I will hear none of that, Mister Goyle. This is also because of a recent occurrence of a Dark Mark too, anyway. If I hear of ANYONE treating Mister Malfoy with any disrespect because of these… Discoveries, will have 50 points removed from their house and at least a week of detention. Now, you may carry on with your meal. Oh, and I need to see you in my office after, Mister Malfoy."

The students started chatting and tucked back into their meals.

"What do you think she wants?" Pansy asked.

"Maybe someone from the Ministry has come and they want to question me, like she said they'd want to do." Draco suggested.

"I can imagine so." Harry said.

As soon as dinner was over, he gave Pansy and Harry a hug, Harry noticing his was a little longer, though he chose not to comment.

"Good luck, Draco." Harry said.

"Same from me, Draco." Pansy added. He smiled at them before reaching a hand out for Ron and Hermione to both shake.

"Thanks for what you said to me earlier, Weasley. I appreciate it. Same to you, Granger."

"No problem, Malfoy." Ron replied.

"You're welcome." Hermione said.

The blonde smiled and headed off to the Headmistress' office, bracing himself for a long night of questions.

xxx

*Gives you a puppy-dog eyed look and points at the "Review" button*

Go on. You know you want to. Reviews make me motivated to write quicker, as do follows and favourites. Speaking of which, I would like to say another thank you to _juventus _for following me and this story, for adding me and this story to their favourites, a_nd _for leaving a review too! Thanks a lot, and to any others who have done any of those five. I appreciate it, and like I said, it keeps me motivated!

Thanks for reading; I will try to post within the next few days. Bye!


	7. An Unexpected Surprise

I would just like to say R.I.P to Richard Griffis, the actor who played Harry's Uncle Vernon in the films. My mum told me this morning about his death, bless the man.

Anyway, do you love me for posting this ever so soon? I hope so. The ideas just kept spilling out, really. I don't know if the next chapter will be so early, but luckily I don't go back to school until a week on Monday, hoorah!

**Warning: **This story contains slash, as in boy love. Don't like, don't read. Hehe, I like it.

I hope you appreciate this being early, and the chapter itself is still 3,228 words, yay! Enjoy chapter seven!

xxx

Draco walked up to the Headmistress' office, with nervousness starting to build up inside him. He realised once he made it, quicker than he hoped, that he didn't actually know what the password was. He paced around there, thinking of what to do, when a familiar woman's voice spoke from behind him.

"I am sorry for being late, Mister Malfoy. I got held up by Professor Lupin."

"Um… It's fine, Professor."

She smiled and walked up to the Phoenix statue in front of them.

"Sherbet Lemon." She said proudly, making the phoenix and staircase move upwards. Draco looks at her questioningly, which she chuckles at.

"It was Dumbledore's usual password and favourite sweet. I kept it like that as a sign of my respect for him." She explained. Draco smiles, but feels a pang of guilt over the mention of Dumbledore. She smiled with understanding and patted his shoulder. She made her way up the grand staircase, gesturing for Draco to follow. She opened the door at the top to reveal Kingsley, the head Auror, inside, who had been sent there earlier.

"Ah, hello Minerva. And Draco, of course." Kingsley smiled. Draco smiled back at him. He was always fond of the man, and actually would like him as the Minister.

"Good evening, Kingsley. Let's all take a seat, shall we? This may take a little while."

McGonagall and Kingsley settled themselves onto a cushiony sofa, with Draco sitting in an armchair in front of them.

"So, Draco, I understand that this may be a sensitive subject for you to talk about, and some questions I will ask may upset you. Are you fine with this?" Kingsley asked kindly. After a moment of hesitation, Draco spoke back.

"…Yes, I am. I think it will do me some good to talk this through thoroughly anyway." Kingsley nodded and smiled, while McGonagall looked at him proudly.

"Okay. So, first of all, how long has this abuse been occurring, Draco?"

"Well, he first hit me when I was three…" McGonagall widened her eyes. "…And up until I was five, he only hit me once every couple of days at the most. After I turned five, he started to hit me almost every day, and started the _Cruciatus _curse when I was ten. He only uses that when he is angrier, though."

"Goodness. Alright, has your mother ever contributed with your father's abuse?"

"No, she has slapped me a few times, but nothing major. She just tended to sit back while it happened."

"Has he ever abused you… Sexually?" Draco quickly shook his head.

"No, never. Verbally and physically, but never sexually."

"Alright, good. If you do not mind me asking, when does he usually do this? Like, what tends to set him off?"

"Anything really. What I do varies what he does. If I say something, like I did with the memory in my class earlier, it tends to be a lot worse. A bad look varies on what mood he is in. Sometimes, it might just be a couple of hits, other times it can be worse. Sometimes if he had a bad day, he would take his anger out by hitting me."

"Wow, okay… Well, I think I have enough information noted down already. I hate to ask this, but did you become a Death Eater willingly? It will help me with sorting this out."

"N-no. Father threatened he'd kill me before the Lord could if I didn't."

"My God. Alright, I am sure I have enough here to convince the Minister to try harder to catch this man. Thank you so much for your time, Mister Malfoy. I know this is hard for you, but I am sure that Lucius will never be able to hurt you again."

"Thank you… This means a lot to me." Draco whispered, tears brimming in his yes. McGonagall reaches over and gently places a hand on his shoulder.

"You better get back to your dormitory, Draco. I want to thank you myself, Kingsley." McGonagall said.

"It's my pleasure, Minerva. Goodbye."

Draco said his goodbyes and left, heading to the Slytherin common room. Once he made it to the painting, he hesitated.

"I heard of all of this about Lucius. I'm sorry to hear it, Draco." The man in the painting said sadly to him.

"Thank you. Anguis."

He didn't get very far into the common room before getting squashed by Pansy in a hug. He laughed and hugged her back, in a much gentler way.

"It's good to see you, Draco. How did it go?" She asked, smiling.

"It went okay. I actually feel relieved that I got it all off my chest, really." He answered.

"Um… Draco?"

They both turned to see Blaise standing by them.

"I just wanted to say… I'm sorry if I've ever treated you disrespectfully, especially after what you've been through."

"Blaise, you have nothing to apologise for. You've always been nice to me really, even if he haven't always been friends. It's bloody Crabbe and Goyle I hate, and a couple of others."

"I am just paranoid, I guess." Blaise laughed.

"Yeah, me too. Anyway, after all this today, I think I need an early night!" Draco yawned.

"I might just join you there, Draco." Pansy said.

"See you two tomorrow." Blaise said, smiling.

"Bye, Blaise." Pansy replied. Draco simply nodded, yawning. He and Pansy shared a quick hug before he collapsed onto his bed. He got changed into his pyjamas and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

_Draco walked hand in hand by the Black Lake with a raven-haired Gryffindor. A beautiful full moon and millions of stars lit up the deep night sky, and reflected across the dark water. The couple sat at the edge of the Lake, staring up at the beauty before them._

"_It's so beautiful, isn't it Harry?" Draco whispered, resting his head on the other boy's shoulder._

"_I couldn't agree more, Draco. You look so beautiful out here too, you know…" He said, planting a kiss on Draco's pale cheek._

"_So are you, dearest." Draco said softly, placing a delicate kiss on his lips._

"_I love you."_

"_I love you too, Harry."_

Draco woke up, and smiled at his dream. These dreams about him and Harry were much more preferable than his nightmares he usually got, and he actually had a decent night's sleep after having them too, seeing that the time was 7:15.

"Draco? Are you awake?" He heard Pansy call softly through the door.

"Yeah, you can come in if you like."

She walked into the room, already dressed in her Slytherin robes.

"Wow, dressed early two days in a row? This is quite surprising, Pansy."

"I know, right? It's surprising me how you _aren't _dressed early. Dreaming about a certain green-eyed Gryffindor, are we?" She said with a wink, making him blush slightly.

"Perhaps."

"You should tell him, Draco."

"I was thinking of doing so tomorrow, actually…" She squealed and threw her arms around the startled blonde.

"That is so fucking sweet! Bless your heart, Draco."

"I'm sure we have been through all of this, Pansy."

"Yes, but now it is different, because _you're going to tell him!_"

"Alright, can you please stop suffocating me now? Oxygen would be nice, thank you." She reluctantly removed her arms from him.

After he got dressed, not bothering to use a concealing charm to hide his scars, they made their way down to the common room, greeted Blaise, and went off for their breakfast. They entered the Great Hall, seeing most of the students were there, including the Golden Trio, who were gesturing for them to come and sit with them again. They sat like they did previously; Draco in the middle of Pansy and Harry, and Ron and Hermione opposite them.

"Hello, guys." Draco greeted them, giving Harry a quick hug first. The raven-haired boy placed a finger gently on one of the scars on his face, while shaking his head and looking rather angry.

"Hey, Draco. Um… You've kind of made front page in the Daily Profit." He looked at him with a little sympathy.

"Oh, what a lovely surprise there. Could you perhaps pass me the paper, Ron?" The red-head looked a little surprised at the use of his first name, but smiled a moment later.

"Sure, Mal- I mean, Draco." He replied, handing him the paper. Draco thanked him, and averted his eyes to the front page.

_The Ministry have recently had a shock over a crime committed by none other than loyal Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy. Since the age of three years old, his son, Draco Lucius Malfoy, has been a victim of unforgivable abuse. The poor boy has been beaten countless times, including the _cruciatus _curse on a number of occasions. The Ministry are now searching for Lucius Malfoy and his Wife, Narcissa Malfoy, as even though she never abused her son herself, she allowed it to happen. This is a very serious case for them as abuse is taken extremely seriously…_

He put the paper down, having read enough. Harry placed a hand on his arm, making the blonde flinch slightly.

"Are you alright, Draco?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm relieved, if anything. Not just over them hunting down my bitch of a father, but also because Rita Skeeter got fired and a decent reporter wrote this." Draco chuckled.

"I can't believe it has been going on for so long, Draco." Hermione said sadly.

"I know, and the _cruciatus _curse too? I hope they catch him soon." Ron added.

"You're very brave, you know that, Draco?" Harry said softly. Draco laughed slightly, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"Not really. I mean, the amount of tears I've shed from this, and how terrified I am of him, that doesn't make me brave. That makes me a coward."

"No, it doesn't. Anyone would be like that if they had to go through what you do, Draco. If anything, you cope with it better than most people would, including me."

"He's right, Draco. You are very brave for coping through this. I know that I wouldn't be able to as half as well myself." Pansy added. Both Ron and Hermione nod at him in agreement.

"Thanks guys. It means a lot to me." He whispered. Both Pansy and Harry wrap their arms round him.

"Can I have your attention, please?"

The whole of the Great Hall look at the headmistress, confusion on a couple of people's faces as there were rarely announcements at breakfast.

"I just thought it would be sensible for me to refresh your memories, now you've all read the Daily Profit, or heard from others about what is in there." The majority of eyes land on Draco, before she coughed loudly.

"Like I said yesterday, anybody who dares pick on Mister Malfoy in any way connected to this will be punished severely. Bullying is not tolerable here anyway, but this is even more serious, and I will not allow any student here to take advantage of it. Continue with your breakfast, we have 10 minutes until your first class."

They all turn back to their breakfasts, a few catching a quick glance at Draco first.

"She has been very nice to me about this, you know. Same with Professor Lupin, it is great. Not to mention you four, and even Blaise." Draco said happily.

"Blaise? You mean Blaise Zabini?" Harry asks.

"Yeah, him. He came over to me yesterday, apologising to me about any disrespect he may have ever given me, even though he has never actually been like that with me before."

"It was really sweet, bless him." Pansy said, forming a slight pink colour on her cheeks.

"Ooh, do you have a little crush, Pansy?" Draco asked with a wink.

"Shut up, Draco. Perhaps. Don't forget that I can use a certain something if you annoy me too much." She said cheekily.

"But that's not fair! You've had your fair share of teasing, why can't I?" He moaned.

"Because when I teased you about _your _crush, Draco, you had nothing to threaten me with. I do."

"Oh wow, thanks a lot." He said sarcastically, but he couldn't help cracking a small smile.

"Crush? Who do you have a crush on, Draco?" Harry asks.

"Doesn't matter." The Slytherin mumbled, putting his head into his arms. Hermione saw he was a bit uncomfortable and decided to change the subject.

"Did all of you revise for the Potions test we have next?" She got a couple of groans in reply.

"You know I didn't, Hermione." Ron groaned.

"Ronald!"

"I haven't either, Hermione." Harry mumbled. She sighed.

"What am I going to do with you two? Honestly." Draco and Pansy chuckle at the look on her face. Far too soon for any of them, it was time for their first lesson. Harry sighed once he and Draco took their seats.

"Oh joy, I absolutely a_dore _Potions tests." Harry groaned sarcastically, making Draco chuckle a little.

"I am sure you will do fine, Harry. Well, maybe you'd do a little better if you actually had revised."

"It's alright for you. You're brilliant at Potions. I suck at it like crazy."

"You did well last year."

"Yeah, but I had Snape's old book."

"You had WHAT? You cheater!" Harry shrugged and smiled slyly, looking a lot like a Slytherin in Gryffindor robes.

"Alright everyone, quiet down. I trust you've all revised for your tests?" Draco was sure he heard something along the lines of _'Not bloody likely' _coming from the boy next to him. He smiled to himself, knowing why he had fallen for him.

xxx

The rest of the day went surprisingly okay for Draco. He did get numerous stares from people, but a lot of them were nicer to him, and he even got a few smiles from people he was sure despised him. Not from everyone who normally hated him, though. Throughout the day, he noticed a lot of whispers coming from Crabbe and Goyle, obviously directed at him. He did his best to ignore them, but it did become rather distracting. Luckily, he didn't have to put up with them at meal times as Draco and Pansy sat at the Gryffindor table. He enjoyed dinner a lot, as they were just chatting about random subjects which they thought of. He would have never have thought before the year had begun that he would be sitting at the Gryffindor table with Pansy, and being friends with the Golden Trio, while the Ministry were after his father for another unforgivable crime.

"Ginny and Neville look really sweet together, don't you think?" Hermione said to them. They all looked down the table at the spoken couple holding hands, with Ginny resting her shoulder on the boy's shoulder. They all smiled and nodded in agreement.

"He came to me the other day asking me to transfigure some orchids for him. When I asked him why, he said something about you telling him that orchids are Ginny's favourites, Harry." They all looked at him, who grinned.

"Oh yeah, he came up to me after you two left telling me that he has had a crush on her since the Yule Ball in fourth year. I knew she would say yes." He said, looking happy for the new couple.

Dinner was soon over. Just as they were about to leave, McGonagall called out to them.

"Mister Malfoy? Could me and Remus have a word, please?"

"Coming!" He called back, nodding at the others to tell them to go on without him. Pansy and Harry gave him a quick hug before they left.

"What is the matter, Professors?" He asked them.

"We just want to give you a quick update on your father." Remus explained.

"Several Aurors have made their way to the Malfoy Manor. It is currently charmed stronger than usual to prevent them getting in, but they are trying to discover how to get in there. Hopefully, if it all goes according to plan, your father should be in custody soon. There is no way he would be able to get out unnoticed; the whole of the Manor is surrounded." Minerva informed him.

"Thank you for letting me know, it is a huge relief." He said, smiling.

"It is my pleasure, Draco. Off you go now."

He nodded at both of them and exited the Great Hall, making his way down to the Slytherin dungeons. He entered to see Pansy and Blaise chatting on a sofa.

"Hey, guys." He greeted them.

"Hi, Draco!" Pansy got up and hugged him.

"Hello." Blaise said, shaking his hand.

"What did they want?" Pansy asked.

"They were just telling me of the progress they are making with catching my father."

"How is it going?"

Draco opened his mouth to speak, but then noticed how quiet the common room was. Looking around, he saw that everyone was looking at them curiously. Well, most were curious, Crabbe and Goyle looked angry. He sighed and shook his head.

"Not here. Let's go up to my room." He paused and looked at Blaise. "You too, Blaise."

The three of them went up the two flights of stairs and entered Draco's room. He cast a locking and silencing charm on the door and turned round to look at Pansy and Blaise, who were already sat on his bed.

"Sorry about that, I didn't really want everyone listening in on our conversation."

"It's fine, Draco. So, how is it going with your father?" She asked again.

"He has raised the strength of the charmed barrier around the Manor in attempt to keep the Aurors, which have surrounded the Manor, out of the grounds. But this also means that he shouldn't be able to escape without being caught, either. There is a way to break the barrier and get into the Manor, so as soon as they can figure out how, they will be able to catch him."

"That's great, Draco!" Pansy cried, hugging him.

"Yeah, it is. I am very happy for you, Draco." Blaise added. He hesitated, but then gave him a quick hug.

"I am so relieved. Finally, the cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch is going to get what he deserves." Draco said, grinning.

"Aye, he is. I can't wait 'till they catch him." Blaise grinned. Pansy nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, it's getting late, and I am a bit tired. I think I'll get in bed, now." Draco yawned.

"Sure, okay. See you tomorrow, Draco." Pansy said, giving him another hug.

"See you." They both exited the room, and Draco changed into his pyjamas, feeling even happier than when he fully learnt how to change into his fox Animagus.

xxx

After a nice night chatting with Ron and Hermione and losing at Wizards Chess, Harry started giving his room a quick tidy before getting into bed. He smiled when he saw Draco's, Pansy's and Blaise's names in Draco's room on the Marauder's Map. When he was pleased as he'd get with the appearance of his room, he changed into his pyjamas and went to take off his glasses an turn his lamp off. But, he stopped when he looked at the Marauder's Map again. All the students were in bed, including Draco, and an unexpected name hovered outside the Slytherin Common room.

_Lucius Malfoy._

xxx

Hahaha, do you hate me for leaving it there? I would hate me if I was you. But that's a strange thought. Thank you to RavenclawDoctorSilveo, DeviousLightningShot, SweetTempest, and GoodNaughtyGirl for your reviews. I was writing this downstairs in my living room and I just checked my emails and BAM! Four reviews and a countless amount of favourites and follows. I was SO FUCKING HAPPY. I told my mum and dad this and they thought it was nice. It IS nice, thank you! Just over 12 hours later, I have all that. I told you things like that make me motivated, and this chapter is proof! ;)

Remember, leaving a review will most likely make the next chapter come quicker, hehe. ;D

Thanks for reading, I hope you are all enjoying the story!


	8. Attempted Rescue

I won't keep you about up here for long, as I know you have been wanting to see what happens next. Enjoy chapter eight!

xxx

"FUCK! I swear if he lays his hands on Draco…"

Harry threw down the Marauder's Map, not bothering to conceal it, grabbed his wand and raced out of his room and down the Gryffindor Tower, cursing whoever decided to build it so high. When he finally got to the bottom of the stairs, he charged through the corridors towards the Slytherin dungeons.

_I will never forgive myself if something happens to him. _He thought as he ran.

_Meanwhile…_

"You better let me in. New painting or not, I need to get in." Lucius Malfoy snarled at the frightened portrait.

"I-I can't just let you get to poor Draco…"

"Oh, yeah? How about I just rip you from top to bottom? I won't hesitate." The man in the painting whimpered but did as he was told.

"D-don't hurt him…" He only got an evil laugh in response.

Lucius walked up the stairs towards the top floor, and waved his wand at Pansy's door to lock it. At the same time, Harry made his way to the entrance, panting for breath.

"Did… you let Lucius inside?!"

"…I'm sorry, Harry…" The man whispered, opening up for him immediately. He charged into the Common Room and up the stairs. As he got to the second floor, however, he was stopped by two larger males, both with their wands pointed at him.

"And where do you think you're going, Potter?" A voice snarled. Harry looked up to find the faces of a grinning Crabbe and Goyle.

"You shouldn't be out of your bed this late, Potter." Crabbe said, while casting a silencing charm on the hallway to not wake the sleeping Slytherins.

"Let me past, you fucking maniacs! Lucius Malfoy is up the stairs as we are speaking!"

"Yeah, we know." They both chorused.

Lucius grinned at the voices on the floor below him. He reached out his hand and opened the door to Draco's room quietly. He flicked his wand at the covers to pull them off his son, making him open his eyes slowly.

"Huh?" He said sleepily.

"_Incarcerous."_

The boy's eyes widened in shock as the ropes bound his hands and feet together. He looked up at his father, and a terrified look spread on his face.

"Evening, Draco." His father said in a sickening tone. He walked over to Draco's bad, with a psychotic smile on his face.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU BASTARD!" Draco screamed. Lucius only grinned and tightened one gloved hand round his neck.

"They'll be none of that, dear Draco." He said. He grabbed a handful of Draco's platinum blonde hair and pulled him off the bed with it. He grabbed the boy's arm and roughly pulled him out of his room and down the corridor, while Draco struggled against him all the way. Lucius slammed him against a wall and grinned.

"There is no point in struggling, Draco. It will only make things worse." He said while pushing Draco into the wall, making him whimper.

"Draco?! What's going on?!" He heard Pansy shout through the door.

"He is just going on a little field trip with his father." Lucius laughed.

"N-no, this can't be happening…" She said softly as Lucius grabbed Draco's arm again and pulled him down the stairs, towards Crabbe and Goyle who were blocking Harry's way. After trying unlocking spells, she yelled _bombarda. _Her door shattered, knocking her to the ground. Groaning, she got up and rushed out of her room.

"Well, hello Mister Potter. Lovely evening, don't you think?" Crabbe and Goyle turned at the sound of his voice. Harry raised his wand to attack them from behind, but Lucius was quicker. He pulled his son closer to him and pointed his own wand at Draco's neck.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Harry. You wouldn't want something bad to happen to dear Draco now, would you?"

"Let him go, Lucius." Harry growled, earning a laugh in response.

"_Expelliarmus!" _Pansy shouted from behind Lucius.

Lucius was flown forward in surprise, releasing Draco, who tumbled to the floor. Harry was about to make his way over to the fallen blonde, but was stopped in his tracks by Crabbe.

"I don't think so, Potter." He looked over to see Goyle pointing his wand at Pansy.

Lucius quickly got up and forced Draco off the floor. He quickly barged pass Crabbe and Harry to the next set of stairs.

"Deal with these two!" He snarled as he pulled Draco down the stairs with him. Harry saw his chance while the two were distracted.

"_Stupefy!" _He sent the spell at Goyle, clearling Pansy's way. Harry positioned his wand back at the base of Crabbe's neck.

"Pansy, go after Lucius! I'll be with you in a minute!" He ordered, his eyes still fixed on those of Crabbe's. She simply nodded and raced down the stairs after the Malfoys. She turned out of the Common Room and ran up the set of stairs. She saw them turn a corner further ahead and rushed after them round the corner.

"_Expelli-"_

"_CRUCIO!"_

The poor girl screamed as the Unforgivable Curse hit her. A few seconds later he stopped the curse, leaving her shaken on the floor. Lucius chuckled evilly, and his eyes darkened.

"_Avada-"_

"NO!" Draco yelled, digging his elbow into Lucius' side. His father gasped, and quickly yanked Draco's hair to pull his face to his.

"Don't you DARE ever do that again ever again!" He hissed. He clutched the boy's arm again and raced down the corridor into the next. Harry turned round the corner leading to the corridor Lucius was just in to find Pansy getting up off the floor.

"Pansy, what happened? Where did they go?"

"He hit me with the _Cruciatus _curse, and come on!" She grabbed the boy's wrist and ran down the corridor, tracing Lucius' footsteps, with Crabbe and Goyle not far behind. Harry and Pansy eventually found Lucius pulling a reluctant Draco into the Room of Requirement.

"Why is he going in there?"

"Because of the Vanishing Cabinet. He bought the other one himself, it's in Malfoy Manor." A voice behind them said. They turned to find Crabbe and Goyle behind them. Before either Pansy or Harry could react, Goyle ran past them following Lucius into the Room. Harry chased after him while Pansy held back Crabbe.

"Get in there, boy!" Lucius yelled, pushing Draco into the cabinet. He climbed in after him, slamming the door shut.

"_BOMBARDA MAXIMA!" _Goyle yelled a few seconds after, sending the spell into the cabinet, smashing it into hundreds of pieces.

"NO! DRACO! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS, YOU HEARTLESS BITCH?!" Harry yelled. He slammed the boy onto the floor and punched him over and over again.

"Harry! Get off him! We need to see McGonagall!" Pansy cried, pulling him off of Goyle, who had passed out from the numerous hits. Harry turned and nodded. They charged out of the hallway towards the headmistress' office, not caring about how much noise they were making. They shouted out the password and ran up the stairs, bursting in on McGonagall, who was writing at her desk.

"Miss Parkinson and Mister Potter? Whatever is the matter?"

"He… Lucius…" Harry panted, clutching his stomach.

"Sit down, and tell me-"

"There isn't enough time! We've got to go now! He's-"

"Harry, calm down! Both of you sit down, and tell me what happened." They both did as they were told and sat down into the sofa. Minerva sat down in the armchair in front of them, the same one Draco sat in the previous night.

"Lucius kidnapped Draco." Harry blurted. The professor widened her eyes in response.

"Lucius used the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement to get in. The other is in the Malfoy Manor. Crabbe and Goyle helped him by fighting off me and Harry." Pansy explained.

"Oh my bloody Merlin. I must inform Kingsley immediately! Where are Crabbe and Goyle now?" She asked.

"Goyle is unconscious in the Room of Requirement and Crabbe is unconscious in the corridor by it." Harry said.

"Alright, go get-"

"Whatever has happened? I heard a lot of shouting and running." They turned to see a concerned looking Professor Lupin.

"Lucius has kidnapped Draco. He got here via the Vanishing Cabinets, one being in the Room of Requirement, one being in the Malfoy Manor. Crabbe and Goyle helped him." Minerva explained.

"Oh fuck. Go to the Ministry, bring back Kingsley. I will go with Pansy and Harry to Crabbe and Goyle. I will come back here with them." Remus said. She nodded, stood in her fireplace, and vanished in a green flame.

"Come on, let's go." Remus said. They made their way down the stairs into the corridor.

"Where are they?" He asked.

"Goyle is in the Room of Requirement and Crabbe is in the corridor by it. They are both unconscious." Pansy said.

"Alright, let's go."

They hurried to the corridor, to find Crabbe passed out on the cold floor. Pansy picked up the wand beside him and placed it in her pocket.

"_Ennervate._" Remus said, pointing his wand at the fallen boy. He woke and looked up at the Professor standing tall above him.

"Don't bother running off, Crabbe." He nodded, admitting defeat.

"I'll go and get Goyle. You two stay here with Crabbe." Harry said, earning two nods in reply. He quickly walked into the Room, and looked at Goyle, who was starting to stir. He went over and picked up his wand before pulling the boy up.

"Don't even bother trying anything, Goyle. We have you both." Harry hissed. Goyle sighed and nodded, while getting dragged out into the corridor.

"Alright, now we have these two, let's get back to the office." Remus said.

Xxx

"So, put shortly, Draco has been kidnapped by Lucius seeking revenge, most likely. He got here via the Vanishing Cabinets, and Crabbe and Goyle here helped him escape with Draco. Correct?" Kingsley asked, glaring at Crabbe and Goyle. They stood by them, eyes glued to the floor. They were either very fascinated by the carpet, or most likely, doing their bests not to get into any more trouble.

"Yes, that's right." Pansy said, the anger clearly obvious in her voice. Harry just stood there, pacing up and down the room.

"Well then, we definitely need to found out how to break those barriers now."

"No shit." Harry mumbled.

"Harry!" McGonagall scolded. Kingsley just shook his head at her.

"It's completely understandable, Minerva. They were- _are _very close friends after all." He said, smiling slightly.

"We can't just bloody stand here! We have to get him out of there! God fucking knows what is happening to him right now…" Harry said frustrated.

"I know, Harry, but we need a plan. We can't just go there expecting to be able to break the barrier all of a sudden." Kingsley reasoned. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by frantic knocking on the door.

"Professor McGonagall! Can we come in, please?" They recognised the voice to be Ron's.

"Yes, come in." She called.

"We just heard Harry running out of his room when we were… Talking, and we don't know where-" He stopped and looked at the five of them stood together.

"…Oh. Hey Harry, hey Pansy. What are you both doing here?" He looked at Crabbe and Goyle to the side of them, their heads still facing downwards.

"What are _they _doing here?" He hissed. Minerva sighed and placed a hand to her forehead.

"Please, sit down Ron and Hermione. We have quite a bit to tell you."

xxx

After McGonagall had explained again what had happened earlier that evening, Pansy was blinking back tears, Harry looked as if he was about to murder someone, Crabbe and Goyle hung their heads even lower, Hermione looked extremely worried and concerned, while Ron looked furious and was stopping himself from making his way over to Crabbe and Goyle to beat the living daylights out of them.

"Oh my. What are we going to do?" Hermione said softly.

"We have to think of a way to destroy the barriers surrounding the Malfoy Manor so we can get in there, get Draco out and preferably get Lucius too." Kingsley said.

"That's your plan?" Ron sighed.

"Well, Ron, how about you try coming up with a smartass plan, huh?" Harry snapped. His friend blinked a couple of times at him, looking hurt. Harry sighed and walked over to him to give him a hug.

"I'm sorry, Ron. It's just… Draco…" Harry whispered.

"I know Harry, I know." Ron whispered back, hugging his friend back. Once the two boys separated, Ron glared over at Crabbe and Goyle.

"How could you? How can you just practically hand over Draco to his own abusive father and think that it is the right thing to do?" He demanded.

"Ron…" Hermione started.

"No, he is right, Hermione. I don't even know how anyone could possibly do that to someone." Harry growled.

"Speaking of which, we still need to tell you what your punishment is." Kingsley said, turning to the two boys. They both took in a sharp intake of breath, but still said nothing and kept their eyes fixed on the ground.

"Don't think that being quiet all of this time has helped to make your punishment any less severe, because it hasn't. Me and Minerva have decided that it is best to expel you from this school." Kingsley said.

"But, our O. …" Goyle started, but was stopped by McGonagall.

"…Are no more important than risking a poor boy's life. Do you really not understand the seriousness of what you have done?!"

"…We understand, Ma'am." Crabbe whispered. Goyle looked at him, but sighed and said nothing.

"Kingsley will be taking you to go and pack your things. The rest of you might want to go and get dressed, as it is 7:00 already." Minerva said, sighing slightly. They all nodded and went to their destinations, none liking the thought of Draco's well-being at that moment in time.

xxx

Breakfast felt empty without the loveable Draco sitting with them. Pansy sat where he usually sat, Harry, Hermione and Ron sat in their usual seats, and Blaise came over to sit in Pansy's usual seat.

"Hey guys, where is Draco?" He asked. Pansy suddenly could not take the worry anymore and burst into a great flood of tears.

"Pansy? What's wrong?" He asked, concern spread across his face. He put his arms around the trembling girl to try and comfort her.

"Oh God Blaise, it is so horrible…" She sobbed into his robe.

"What is? What is going on?" He asked worriedly. Harry sighed while he put an arm around Pansy.

"I think it would be best until McGonagall comes. I can imagine she will explain it." He said softly. He was sure he heard something like '_He was going to tell him today…' _from Pansy, but chose to ignore it.

A moment later, McGonagall walked through the Great Hall. Every student could see on her face that she was immensely stressed. She paused by Harry and his friends, giving them all a sad smile. She took her place, and didn't bother to ask for everyone's attention as it was already there.

"Students, I am afraid I have some terrifying news. I wasn't going to tell you, but it is better for me to say it to you myself than let the Daily Prophet tell it for you. In the early hours of this morning, Lucius Malfoy managed to break into the castle and kidnap Draco Malfoy." Most of the hall gasped and automatically looked at Pansy sobbing in the arms of Blaise.

"But miss, how is that possible? I thought he could not escape the Manor without being caught?" A girl from the Gyffindor table asked.

"That is what they presumed, Miss Rogers. But, it turns out he used a Vanishing Cabinet inside the school and in the Manor to get in and out without being caught on the way. The Vanishing Cabinet which was in the Room of Requirement was destroyed by Goyle, who was expelled for assisting Lucius, along with Crabbe. Any more questions?"

"I have one, miss." A male Hufflepuff said.

"Go on, Mistmer Edwards."

"How do the Ministry plan on getting Draco out of the Manor?"

"…Well, they are currently trying to discover a way to break the barriers surrounding the Manor's grounds."

"So there isn't actually any solid plan?" Another Slytherin called out.

"Well, me and a friend of mine have been figuring out a plan ourselves."

"Well, if you can call us friends, Minerva." A cold drawl said from the other side of the hall. All the students turned and gasped at the sight of Severus Snape making his way across the room.

"YOU! YOU HEARTLESS TRAITOR!" Harry yelled, about to get up before McGonagall stopped him.

"Harry, don't, I asked for him to come." He stared at her as if she had gone insane, as did many other students.

"Why?! He killed Dumbledore!"

"Yes, because he asked him to long ago."

"WHAT?! THAT IS INSANE!"

"Mister Potter, I believe his exact words were _'You must be the one to kill me, Severus.'._" Snape sighed.

"But…"

"Harry, it is true." McGonagall said.

"I still don't trust him. Why would you want to help, anyway?" Harry spat. Snape simply sighed once more.

"Mister Potter, I am not just going to stand at the bloody side lines while Lucius beats the life out of my only godson. I know you think of me as a "heartless traitor", but I am not the sort of person who will just allow my family to get hurt, especially by their own father. Understand, Potter?" Harry sighed, but nodded all the same. Pansy looked up at him with tears still visible in her blue eyes.

"Professor, can you help save him?" She asked, almost pleadingly. Blaise still had a protective arm around her shoulder. Slowly, the Professor nodded, and her eyes lit up happily. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"I believe I can, Miss Parkinson. In actual fact, I don't think you would be able to actually do with it me. Or, someone _like _me, anyway." Harry looked up at him with a questioning look, but then looked down at his arm where the Dark Mark lay and understood.

"How is _that_ going to help save Draco, sir?" Harry asked bitterly.

"If you would you five would kindly follow me and Severus to my office, we can tell you what we have discussed. Remus, could you come along too? We need your assistance." McGonagall asked. Remus nodded and followed the others out of the Great Hall, wondering how he and Snape could possibly have anything to do with the plan to rescue Draco from the evil clutches of his father.

xxx

I hope you didn't get confused or anything. And I am sorry about Draco! But, this is one of the things I've had planned since the beginning, along with that whole Boggart thing. I won't be writing about what happens to Draco while the others make a plan to save him, not until later anyway. Anyway, thank you to SweetTempest, Juventus, Diddleymaz, GoodNaughtyGirl, RavenclawDoctorSilveo (were my tenses okay? I still need to get out of that habit) and DevousLightningShot for your reviews on my last chapter. Especially people who have been continuing to review and show me support. Seriously, I look at these reviews and I feel all happy and awesome that people like this story that much. So… Keep reviewing, yeah? I love feeling awesome. Thank you for reading, the next chapter should be out in the next few days, but I do have coursework and revision to get done too. Damn. I hope you are enjoying the story!


	9. Breaking into Malfoy Manor

Hello again! I am sorry again if anyone was upset with Lucius kidnapping Draco. I am not going to tell you what happens, but I can promise you it will have a happy ending. Oh, and this should have 15 chapters, including a sequel, though I am not fully sure yet.

Enjoy the chapter!

xxx

All of them sat in McGonagall's office, most awaiting her and Snape's plan.

"So, now we are all here, what exactly is the plan you both came up with?" Remus asked.

"Well, as you can imagine, the barriers surrounding the Manor are made of dark magic." McGonagall starts.

"Obviously." Harry muttered, still clearly furious. Hermione slapped his shoulder slightly, sighed, and motioned for the headmistress to continue.

"So, we have come to realise that light magic cannot fight this dark magic. All of the Aurors attempts have been with light magic, not dark."

"So you believe that dark magic is what we need to destroy the barriers?" Remus asked.

"Partly, yes. Because of Severus' mark, his magic is infused with evil."

"So that is why we need Snape." Ron finished. McGonagall nodded.

"But my magic alone is not enough to break the barriers." Snape said.

"So, that is why we also need Remus." McGonagall said.

"But why him?" Pansy asked, puzzled.

"Because he is a werewolf." Snape stated simply. Remus nodded, looking as if he understood.

"Why would that help?" Blaise asked.

"Because werewolves are known to be dark creatures, Blaise. Or, there is dark blood in my genes, that is. But the next three nights are a full moon, Severus. I don't really see how I could help if I had to transform while we were saving him, and there is no way we can wait three whole days until the full moon is over." Remus said.

"Ah, but we need you to be transformed to do this, Lupin, as that is when you're dark power is at its best. As long as you take a particularly strong dose of Wolfsbane, you will act and look like a tamed wolf and be able to understand us." Snape explained.

"Of course." Remus replied, smiling.

"But, we still need some sort of Malfoy magic, too. We still need to figure out how to get round that." McGonagall sighed. Pansy stared at them as if was obvious.

"What about his wand?" She asked.

"We thought of that, Miss Parkinson, but did Lucius not think of taking that with him?" Snape sighed. Pansy shook her head at him.

"He left it there. I had a quick glance in his room before chasing after them, and I saw it on his bedside table."

"That is brilliant!" McGonagall said joyfully.

"I can imagine, because my wand is connected to Voldemort's, myself too, that my magic could contribute to it too." Harry said.

"Yes, it can. I think this will be enough." McGonagall said.

"…So we can save him tonight?" Pansy asked softly. Both McGonagall and Snape nodded.

"I don't even know if I can wait that long. I want to kill that son-of-a-bitch and make sure it is extremely painful and-"

"Harry, that's enough, mate. It'll be fine, okay?" Ron tried to reassure his friend with.

"It will be fine once I lay my hands on that-"

"Mister Potter, I think we have heard quite enough coming out of your mouth." Snape muttered, just about loud enough for everyone to hear him clearly.

"Anyway, you five better be getting off to your lessons." Harry opened his mouth to protest, but McGonagall stopped him. "It will provide a better distraction that pacing around angrily, waiting for when we go. Off you go now." They all bid their farewells and made their way to their first lesson, which was already half way over. It was Potions, which Snape was now taking over himself. Remus said his goodbye to the others and hurried to his own class to teach, while the rest of them made their own way to the Potions class. Snape burst into the Potions room in his usual manner and style, and walked over to the startled professor.

"You do understand that I am taking over for potions now, do you not?" Snape questioned.

"Yes, yes I do. I was just giving the class a quick check on what we have done throughout the year." He replied, grabbing his bags.

"Good. Farewell, then. My class seems to be just how I left it, great." Slughorn smiled at the Potion Master's version of a thanking, and reached out his hand. Snape shook his hand briefly, and he waved the class farewell.

"I am hoping that you all will be paying just as much attention as you would normally do, even with the current circumstances…" Snape said, trying his best not to look over at the empty seat next to Harry. When all of the class did however, he sighed and fell down into his chair, resting his head in his hands.

"Alright, get out your textbooks and revise what you have done so far. We will start properly next time." He said. Mutters went round the classroom at the Professor's different attitude.

"AND NO TALKING. Dear Merlin, some bloody peace and quiet would be nice." He sighed. The students saw the stress on their professor's face, as much as he tried to conceal it, so they did as they were told and read through their notes. Harry didn't know whether to be satisfied or disappointed by the silent classroom. He wanted some peace naturally, but the silence did not provide a very good distraction either. He sighed deeply, opened his textbook on the first topic and tried to revise the best he could, but to no prevail. He couldn't help but think of his missing friend with every word he read. Everything reminded him of Draco, even smaller things like ingredients. For the next few minutes he attempted to concentrate, but gave up when he realised it simply was not going to happen. He looked over to where Pansy sat to see how she was coping. She had her eyes down on her book, but he could see that her eyes were not focused on the words. She looked up to Harry and smiled sadly, and back down at her book again. He looked at Blaise sitting by her and saw he was not doing much better than she was. He looked up at Harry and gave him a similar smile to the one that Pansy gave him. Harry looked around, and tried to think of some sort of way to keep himself distracted. Professor Snape looked up and sighed at the boy looking round the classroom.

"Mister Potter, as much as you would like for it to be possible, you cannot revise by looking around the room aimlessly. Please could you actually keep your eyes on your book so you could perhaps at least try to get a good grade?"

"Sorry, professor." The boy mumbled, and sighed as he looked down at his book again. Everyone expected the professor to take some points off him like he usually did, but instead he got up and stood in front of Harry.

"I understand how you must feel, Potter. Read, it could help distract you. For a little while, anyway." Snape said softly. Well, as soft as he could get. Harry looked up slightly shocked, but smiled nonetheless at the professor standing above him.

"Thank you, sir." He simply nodded and went back to his desk at the front. A few minutes later, he stood up to talk to the class.

"Alright, it is time for your next lesson. I'd much rather have you lot than the bloody first year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, but never mind." A couple of the students sniggered and they all left the room.

"God, could this day get any slower?" Harry groaned as they made their way through the corridors.

"I know what you mean; it feels like I have been through a whole day already." Pansy sighed.

"At least we have Defence Against the Dark Arts now, that normally provides a good distraction." Hermione said smiling, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes, but it won't be the same without Draco…" Harry said quietly. They all looked at him silently, and Ron went to put an arm round him.

"He'll be fine, Harry. By tomorrow, he will be back with us, his usual self." He said, trying to reassure him.

"But he might… Never mind, thinking about it won't help me in any way. Let's just get to the lesson." Harry replied quietly. Ron saw he was uncomfortable with, well, his comforting in a way so he just decided to leave him be like he wanted, as did the others.

Harry could not help but have the image of what Draco possibly was going through dwell on his mind yet again as they took their seats in the classroom. He couldn't help but feel guilty about how him and he rest were just going on with their usual day while Draco was being held prisoner in his own home by his father. He also couldn't help but blame himself about what had happened. Part of him knew that nothing could have been done, especially because Crabbe and Goyle had helped, but being the saviour of the wizarding world naturally made him feel as though he should have protected Draco. Several thoughts came to mind about him being the blame for Draco's capture, such as _If only I had just left a little later, I could have stopped Lucius as he exited the common room. _And _I should have been able to fight off Crabbe and Goyle easily, they shouldn't have stopped us._ He knew it was ridiculous, no one was to blame except from those despised three, but he could not let the thoughts go.

"Harry? Please, I know you have a lot of things on your mind, but I would like you to pay attention." Professor Lupin said, startling Harry a little.

"Sorry, sir. I will try to pay attention." The professor merely nodded, partly knowing that the boy would probably sink straight back into his thoughts again.

"Alright, as I was saying, with the dangers we have around us, we need to work on both your defensive and offensive spells. Please, with your partner, practise ones you currently know so I can see where you are all at." He ordered. "Oh, Harry, just pick any pair to work with." He added, smiling sadly. Harry nodded and looked between the pairs of Hermione and Ron, and Pansy and Blaise. He nodded his forgiveness at the Slytherin pair and went over to join his Gryffindor Trio. Pansy and Blaise just smiled, understanding how close the three were, and got on with their practise.

"Hey, Harry." His friends both said at the same time.

"Hi, guys." Harry replied, still slightly loss in his thoughts.

"Harry? Please, if you blame yourself for what has happened, don't. It isn't your fault, it's only Lucius', Crabbe's and Goyle's fault." Hermione said softly. Ron nodded in agreement with his girlfriend.

"She's right Harry, you should not blame yourself." Harry was about to protest, but then sighed, knowing there was not any use in arguing, especially with friends as stubborn as Ron and Hermione could be. He actually was glad that Remus had decided to have this practical lesson, as it provided a nice distraction, certainly better than any attempt Severus had to distract them. He also let his anger out a bit on some of his offensive spells, though he naturally could not hit them too hard as he did not want to cause any damage to two of his best friends. Soon enough, the lesson had ended, and it was time for them to go to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Harry, could I have a quick word with you, please?" Remus called before he left. He nodded at his four friends to go on to the Great Hall without him and he would meet them there. They nodded and made their way down the corridor without Harry.

"What is it, professor?" The Gryffindor asked.

"Well, I know you obviously were going to be distracted this lesson, I was a bit myself, but I can't help wonder… Well, I know that after Sirius passed away…" He paused for a moment to take a breath, and then continued. "…You did seem to blame yourself quite a bit. I just want to make sure it isn't the same this time. You aren't blaming yourself for Draco's predicament, are you?" He questioned. _Not all of this again. _Harry thought, looking down at his shoes. Remus saw this and sighed, resting a hand on his forehead, a little like Severus did that morning in Potions.

"Harry, you must not blame yourself for what happened earlier. It is not your fault, you could not have done anything to stop him. Lucius is a powerful wizard, and he even had backup too. There was nothing you could have done, and we _will _save him, I promise you." Remus tried to reassure his best friend's son with.

"But… I am meant to be able to save people, it's what I do. I cannot help but feel incredibly guilty for what happened. I know that it isn't my fault, but I can't help but blame myself. Everyone expects me to be this amazing wizard, the boy-who-lived, and someone with that title should be able to protect one of their best friends. I can't help but feel that way, Remus." Harry admitted to the werewolf. He smiled and put one hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I understand, Harry. But just remember, even though you have that title, it does not give you the ability to do the impossible. I know that you feel as though it is up to you to help everyone, and I am proud of you for being so brave and courageous, a true Gryffindor, but that does not make this your fault. What matters is what you do tonight, and that we all use our power to get Draco out of that Manor as soon as possible. Do you understand, Harry?"

"I understand, professor. You are completely right, it isn't my fault, and I shouldn't blame myself. I should be focusing on getting him out of there, not feeling guilty about how he got in there. Thank you, Remus, you helped me a lot." Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around the professor.

"It is no problem at all, Harry. Come, we should be getting off to lunch. I don't know about you, but I am starving."

xxx

Harry sat to the left of Pansy like he did that morning. His friends greeted him while picking out their food to eat.

"What did Professor Lupin want to talk to you about, Harry?" Hermione asked while grabbing herself a sausage roll.

"Basically what you and Ron were talking to me about, how I should not blame myself for what happened to Draco. You two and him are right, I knew before it wasn't my fault, but it took all of your convincing to actually open my eyes fully." Harry explained.

"You were blaming yourself for what happened to him?" Pansy asked softly. Harry nodded, looking a little awkward.

"I am glad you're not blaming yourself anymore, Harry." Blaise said, smiling. The others nodded in agreement.

"I am too. I should be focusing on tonight with us getting him out of there, not feeling guilty on how he got there in the first place." Harry said.

"That's right, mate. We're definitely getting him out of there, no questions asked." Ron said confidently.

The group ate the rest of their meal silently, thinking of the night they had ahead of them.

xxx

The rest of the day went even slower for the five friends, and also for Minerva, Remus and Severus too. But finally, it was time for dinner, which they all had agreed to eat quickly.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, Pansy and Blaise, are you ready?" The headmistress called, with the werewolf and head of Slytherin by her side.

"We're coming, Professor!" Hermione called, as she dragged Ron away from his beloved food by his hand down the hall. Harry, Pansy and Blaise followed behind the couple, grinning. Everyone stared at the five friends as they went towards the three professors. The eight of them went into the corridor and turned the corner so no one could hear them from the Great Hall.

"Alright, we're all here. Pansy, do you have Draco's wand?" McGonagall asked. The Slytherin nodded, holding up the said wand. Remus looked at the sky towards the incoming full moon, and took a sharp intake of breath.

"We only have a few minutes, have you got my Wolfsbane, Severus?" He asked.

"Yes, take it." The Potions Master said, handing him the potion. Remus thanked him and downed the potion in one great gulp, shuddering.

"Alright, each of you either hold me, Remus, Severus or Hermione. You can Apparate there, you said?" McGonagall asked the brunette, who nodded. Harry grabbed onto Remus, Ron was already holding Hermione's hand, Blaise held onto Severus while Pansy held McGonagall's arm.

"Alright, let's go get him." She said, and vanished with Pansy.

xxx

They all arrived outside of the Manor, where they were greeted by Kingsley.

"Hello, guys. You said you had a plan, Minerva?" The Auror asked as some other Aurors came to them.

"Yes, and it should work. We-" She was interrupted by a yell of pain coming from Remus.

"Wow, I know when to time things…" He chuckled, before yelling again. Severus held onto his arm for comfort.

"Are you alright? Is it working?" The concerned professor asked, surprising the students, who had never seen the man act so kindly. Remus nodded, and took a deep breath as the transformation took place. In one last scream of agony, a beautiful brown wolf stood in the place where Remus once stood. Severus breathed out in relief.

"Wow, he looks just like a normal wolf. This is a lot different than third year." Harry mumbled. Moony looked at him and shook his furry head. He howled and walked forward to the gate.

"Oh right, I almost forgot about that. Come on, let's go." Severus said, walking ahead. Ron shook his head at Harry in shock before the rest of them followed the two professors. Moony sat at the gate, wagging his tail slightly and whimpering slightly.

"Don't whine." Severus sighed when the wolf grinned and whined louder to annoy him.

"Let's just do this." Harry said impatiently. He took out his wand, ready to point it at the barrier.

"Right, okay. Moony, get over here and stand by me. I need you to put one of your… Paws onto the barrier when I say so, okay?" Moony nodded and let out a small howl to show he understood.

"Alright, good. Harry, you come over and stand to my right." The Gryffindor nodded and walked over to him, not bothering to question the professor's use of his given name.

"Pansy, you stand next to Harry. The rest of you better stand back; this could be big." Severus warned. They did what they were told and took several large steps back.

"Alright, are you guys ready?" He earned three nods in response, and a lick on his hand by Moony. Severus grinned slightly at the wolf, shocking Harry and Pansy, and pulled up his black sleeve to reveal his Dark Mark. He put his arm on the barrier, wincing when he felt the magic collide with his own. He looked to his right at the two students.

"Both of you, touch the barriers with your wands… Well, with Harry's and Draco's wands." They did as they were told and touched the barrier. It paled to a lighter green.

"Moony, go and place a paw on it." The wolf gave out a little bark and placed one brown paw on the barrier, turning it to an eerie white. Severus took out his wand with his free and pointed it at the barrier.

"Brace yourself." He said before yelling _bombarda maxima. _The barrier smashed into a thousand pieces, and threw them back into the Aurors. They groaned, except for one whimper, as they got up off the ground.

"We did it." Harry whispered, grinning.

xxx

And there we have it; they can get into Malfoy Manor! Unfortunately, I am going back to school on Monday, so I will have less time for this story. I will do my best though, and I also already have an idea for my next Harry Potter story once I have finished this one. Thank you for reading, and thanks to Diddleymaz, DevousLightningShot and GoodNaughtyGirl for your reviews. Remember, they keep me motivated to write! And to those who have recently started following this… Welcome! xD

I hope you are all enjoying the story!


	10. The Rescue

Hello again! Yay, this is indeed a quick update. Due to me going back to school tomorrow, I thought it would be nice if I got this posted as after tomorrow, posting will be slower. Plus, tomorrow I am watching WrestleMania (we record it as it is way too late for me to watch on a school night), which I am looking forward to, and then I am going to be sitting with my brother when he gets his fifth tattoo on Tuesday. So, I won't have any time to work on this in the next couple of days because I have coursework and revision to do around this as well. *Sad face*

Enjoy chapter ten!

xxx

All of them walked down the stone pathway to the grand doors of the Manor, including the Aurors. They looked around cautiously as they walked, knowing how cunning the master of the grounds could be.

"Are there any other death eaters that you know of in the Manor apart from Draco's parents?" Harry asked Kingsley. The Auror shook his head.

"No, we do not believe so. It is unlikely because no death eaters have been able to get in themselves."

They eventually made it to the doors. Severus opened the door, his dark mark allowing him to do so. The hall was incredibly empty, and seemed to go on for eternity. They stepped forward with precaution, not daring to make a sound. They were stopped in their tracks by the slight sound of agonising screams located somewhere below.

"Oh shit. Where could they be?" Harry asked Severus in a panic.

"I can imagine the dungeons. The screams are too far away to be anywhere else." He replied through gritted teeth, clearly furious at his godson's situation.

"Come on, let's go!" Pansy said. Not bothering anymore to keep themselves quiet, they rushed down the corridor as Severus led them to the dungeons.

"_Stupefy!"_ A voice nearby shouted. They all dodged the spell and turned to the man standing by them. Moony growled and took a step forward to attack, but stopped when Severus placed a hand on his back. Harry pointed his wand towards the man.

"Dad? Dad, what are you doing here?" Blaise asked with his eyes wide open in shock.

"He invited me over before he put up the barriers. He told me that if I didn't help stop anyone that entered, he would kill your mother. I can't do it though, not to poor Draco." His father replied quietly, tears forming in his eyes. His son gave him a hug.

"As much as I do not want to break this up, we have to go NOW." Severus said, and started to make his way down the hall again, Moony close behind him. The rest followed, including Blaise's father. They hurried down several flights of stairs, getting closer to the poor screams of an innocent boy.

"I am going to kill him, I swear to God." Harry hissed as they ran down the stairs.

"Not if I bloody beat you to it, Harry." Severus said.

They eventually made it to the bottom, and looked at the huge door standing before them. Cais stood forward, took a deep breath, and opened the door quickly. Lucius turned around, and growled at his unwanted guests. He quickly pointed his wand at the throat of Draco, with a threatening look on his face and an arm around his wife's waist. They gasped at the sight of Draco behind his father. Both of his arms were chained to the wall behind him, and he had more cuts and bruises covering his even paler skin than from that past summer. His usually bright, almost silver eyes were dull and lifeless, as if he had given up on any fight he may have had in him.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!" Harry screamed at him. He put a foot forward but stopped as soon as the evil wizard dug his wand deeper into his son's throat, making him whimper.

"Don't come any closer, Harry. You wouldn't want something to your dear Draco, now would you?" He purred.

"You sick bastard." Harry growled. The man only chuckled, but then narrowed his eyes at Severus and Cais.

"You traitors. You are my friends, yet you betray me by helping these fools?"

"You are a father, Lucius! How on Earth can you treat Draco like you do?! I could never imagine doing that to him, EVER!" Severus yelled. Lucius only shrugged.

"He is not worth to be treated nicely. He is a poor excuse for a Malfoy. I might as well just leave him here to die; the Dark Lord let me have him all to myself after a killed some muggles for him."

"How could you be so heartless?" Hermione whispered. He only laughed, loosening his wand slightly from Draco's throat. Harry saw his chance.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ He yelled, sending the spell at him and his wife. He swore and pulled Narcissa away from the spell, but also moving himself away from Draco. They all rushed forward towards him, their wands pointed at Lucius. He merely laughed and grabbed hold of Narcissa's hand.

"Nice one, Potter. I'd say you have won this one, but it seems to me like Draco is fading." Lucius snarled. They all looked at Draco, who had paled even further, leaving his skin a sickly shade of grey. Harry gasped as he saw for the first time just how much blood surrounded the poor blonde. Lucius and Narcissa chuckled evilly and before any of the crew managed to do anything to stop them, they were gone in a heartbeat. Harry dropped to his knees and held Draco's head gently up while a couple of others attempted to break the chains restricting him to the wall. Draco's eyes looked slowly up at Harry.

"Harry… I-I feel… I feel so c-cold…" He whimpered, falling against him when his arms were released. Harry caught him and lifted up his head once more.

"Draco, please, try to keep your eyes open." Harry begged, looking into Draco's closing eyes.

"I-I'll try… But I just want…. To sleep…" Harry took off his robe and wrapped it around him before picking him up for the third time that year, for the first time conscious.

"Draco, please!" Harry pleaded.

"I-I will, Harry…" The blonde whispered, resting his head onto his friend's chest.

"We can't apparate with him, he is far too weak!" McGonagall panicked.

"Could we fly him there?" Hermione asked.

"I guess we will have to." She said, sighing.

"What with?" Harry pleaded. Draco clutched at his shirt and looked up at him with half-open eyes.

"U-Use my broom…" Severus quickly nodded and raced out of the room to his godson's room. Harry carefully carried the blonde up the stairs, refusing the help that any friends or Aurors gave him. Once he eventually got up all of the stairs, he and the others met up with Severus already there with his broom, which he passed to Harry.

"Alright, we will all apparate to the hospital, Harry will fly there…" Kingsley started.

"Wait, maybe it would be best to bring him back to Hogwarts. It is the safest place for him to be right now, without the Vanishing Cabinets." McGonagall protested.

"But surely-"

"Just decide already! We are losing time here!" Severus snapped, gently stroking back a strand of hair off Draco's face.

"J-just take me to Hogwarts..." Draco whispered, before his eyes shuttered closed.

"Shit, Hogwarts it is. Go Harry, we will meet you there. Just keep heading south." Minerva said, holding onto Pansy once more. Blaise hung onto the arm of his father instead of Snape's, as Moony had jumped into the arms of the professor and was licking his face. Harry had no time to chuckle at the pair as he rushed (as gently as he could manage) down the hall to the exit. The rest all apparated away to a location outside Hogwarts, so they could inform Pomfrey of the situation and help her prepare for his arrival.

Harry apologised softly to the unconscious Slytherin as he placed him down for a second so he could open the door. He picked him up again quickly, ignored the blood which stained his clothes, and managed to place him on the broom in front of him. He kicked off gently and flew south, one arm keeping Draco's body next to him. He heard the blonde whimper in his sleep slightly and pulled him closer.

"Hang in there Draco, please hang in there…" He whispered.

xxx

The others waited worryingly in the infirmary, with the Aurors back at the Ministry to look into where Lucius and Narcissa had got to. Mrs Pomfrey was furious when she heard what had happened to Draco during his capture, and got everything ready for his arrival as quickly as possible. Perhaps too quickly, as in the end they were all either standing or sitting silently, wishing for time to go faster. Ron had placed an arm round Hermione, and Blaise copied the gesture with Pansy, who accepted it happily. McGonagall stood by Pomfrey, looking unbelievably stressed. Severus stood while stroking a whining Moony, who rubbed his brown head against the other professor's leg.

"Where are they? They should be here by now!" Severus groaned. Just as he had finished his sentence, Harry flew into the infirmary, dismounted and quickly picked up Draco to put him in the nearest bed with the help of Madam Pomfrey.

"Oh my goodness. I cannot believe this…" She whispered, before casting a spell to check his vitals. She looked worried and quickly grabbed a vial nearby containing a red liquid.

"Potter, go get a damp cloth from over there, please." She asked hurriedly while she administered the potion down Draco's throat as softly as she could. Harry soon came back with the cloth and she nodded at him and Draco. He nodded back and wiped Draco's brow with the cloth. She set to work applying numerous creams and potions to his body, her face screwed in concentration. The others watched the two silently, knowing that if Pomfrey was to do anything wrong, it could be the difference between Draco's survival and his death. After she was done, she sighed in relief when she checked his vitals and found they were almost back to normal.

"That was a close one. If you were to arrive just a couple of minutes later, we probably would have lost him." She said, sighing once more. The others did too.

"So he will be alright, Madam?" Pansy whispered, and smiled joyfully when she nodded.

"I recommend you all go, now. You can come back as soon as he wakes up." They all nodded and did as they were told, except from Harry, who was still sitting in the chair by Draco's side.

"I am going to be realistic, here. You're probably not going to move from this room until he wakes up, aren't you?" Harry nodded, grinning cheekily. She just shook her head, trying not to smile.

"Fine, you can stay. The rest of you, off you go!" She said, waving a hand at the rest.

"But that's not fair! We're-" Blaise started, but Pansy grabbed his hand, making him stop speaking immediately.

"No, it's fine Madam! Come on, let's leave them alone!" Pansy chirped and pulled a confused Blaise out of the room, while the others followed. Severus stopped at the exit and turned to Harry, Moony by his side.

"Goodnight, Harry. Thank you for your help tonight." He said, actually giving him a slight smile. He walked out of the room before a shocked Harry could say anything. Pomfrey chuckled at his face.

"He does have a nice side, you know."

"I… I can see that." He replied, smiling. Pomfrey yawned, and Harry saw just how exhausted the poor woman was.

"You should go and get some rest, Madam. I will call for you if anything happens." Harry informed her, smiling. The woman smiled back in gratitude and went back to her office. Harry looked back at Draco and smiled sadly. Luckily, the cuts and bruises were already starting to fade away, but you could still see them slightly. He looked at them all, asking himself how a man could do this to someone, especially their own son. Almost every part of Draco's fragile body was marked, and there was no reason for it. He was just a boy who wanted to take his own path in life, that was all, and his was punished for it. The thought of this sickened Harry to no end. His thoughts were interrupted when Draco starting whimpering and shaking in his sleep. Harry quickly grabbed his hand softly, and almost immediately after, Draco had calmed down and was sleeping soundly. Harry smiled and rested his head on the blonde's chest gently, and fell asleep in that same position.

xxx

"Potter? Mister Potter? Wake up!"

Harry groaned and opened his eyes. He saw that it was already morning, and his head was laid on Draco's chest, with his right hand holding Draco's left. He let go and sat up, wincing at the pain of his stiff back and neck.

"It's no wonder you're hurting, you've been like that for hours! Take that potion, it will help." Pomfrey said, pointing at a potion nearby. He thanked her and drank the potion, and felt the relief almost straight after. She merely nodded and checked over Draco, smiling when she saw he was already healing.

"Thank goodness he is alright. You worried me when you brought him in, I thought I wasn't going to be able to save him." She said.

"Thank you so much, Madam, I couldn't be more grateful-" He was stopped by Draco moaning on the bed. She rushed over to the bed, and smiled.

"Is he alright?" Harry demanded.

"Of course, I think he is waking up." She replied. Harry sighed in relief and hurried back by Draco's side.

"Draco, can you hear me?"

"H-Harry? Is that you?" He received in response.

"Draco, thank Merlin you are awake!" Harry exclaimed. The blonde smiled, and winced when he tried to sit up. Pomfrey sighed and handed him a potion.

"Take this, it should help." She said. He drank the potion with a shudder and thanked her. She reached out a little too quickly when she was about to get the bottle back, and Draco flinched.

"I'm sorry." He said, handing her the bottle and sitting up as the pain had reduced a little.

"No need to apologise, Mister Malfoy." She said while placing the bottle down.

"Thank you for helping me. Both of you." Draco said, smiling. Harry smiled back, but his reply was interrupted by the entrance of Severus Snape and Remus Lupin.

"How is he, Pomfrey?" They both asked while they were walking. They stopped in his tracks when they both saw Draco awake, sitting up in the bed.

"Draco, you're awake! How are you feeling?" Severus asked, sitting in the other chair by Harry.

"Okay, I suppose. A lot better than before, anyway." The blonde replied, smiling.

"It's good to see you better, Draco." Remus said.

"Did you stay here the whole night, Harry?" Severus asked.

"Yes, perhaps." Harry chuckled.

"You stayed the whole night? And since when have you called him Harry, Severus?" Draco asked.

"We have a lot to fill you in on, Draco." Remus chuckled.

"DRACO! You're awake!" Pansy shouted, running in the infirmary and dragging Blaise in by his hand.

"Yes I am, Pansy." He chuckled, and looked at his friend's entwined hands. "When did this happen? I was only gone for a bloody day!"

"Well, yesterday we were getting a little closer, and we told each other our feelings for one and other last night. We're together now." She said, blushing slightly.

"I am so happy for the two of you." He said, and looked at the door when it opened once more.

"How is… Oh, he is awake!" Hermione said happily, and was followed by Ron and McGonagall.

"Thank goodness! How are you feeling, Draco?" Minerva asked.

"Better, thank you." He replied, smiling.

"It's nice to see you well, mate." Ron said.

"So, how did you all break in, then?" Draco asked.

"Well, we just combined several forces of dark magic, really." Hermione explained.

"I used my magic and Dark Mark. " Severus said.

"I simply put a paw on the barrier as Moony." Remus chuckled.

"Moony?" Draco asked.

"My werewolf form. I took a strong dose of Wolfsbane so I was perfectly like a tamed wolf and I remember everything."

"Oh, of course."

"Anyway, I just used my wand, because it's connected with Voldemort." Harry said.

"And I used your wand. Speaking of which…" Pansy reached into her pocket and pulled out Draco's wand and handed it to him. He thanked her and placed it on his bedside table.

"Thank Merlin he was stupid enough to leave it behind." Draco chuckled. He turned to Harry, smiling.

"So, now you have a grand total of carrying me into this room three times. I don't know about you, but I fancy trying to prevent that number from increasing." Harry laughed.

"Ha, yeah, maybe you should."

"Anyway, we all be better getting off to breakfast." Minerva said. They made their way to the door, but like the previous evening, Harry didn't budge.

"I want to stay here." He stated simply. Draco looked at him and smiled.

"Please can he stay?" He asked. Pomfrey sighed.

"Alright, but the rest of you, out." They said their goodbyes and exited the room. She excused herself and went into her office. Draco sighed deeply.

"Draco, what's wrong?" Harry asked.

"I… I feel so weak, Harry."

"You are bound to, with the amount of damage you took…"

"Obviously that, but I meant me myself. I should have been stronger, not have let him hit me all these years. I could have fought back, but I didn't. I just took it pathetically, and now look what it has done." Draco burst into tears. Harry put his arms around his friend, pulling him close.

"Draco, you are not weak. Most people, if not everyone else, wouldn't be able to cope with what you have dealt with."

"But if I had just been stronger, maybe he wouldn't hit me as bad… Maybe he would only do it like he did when I was younger…"

"Draco, do NOT blame yourself for his actions. He shouldn't hit you AT ALL, and you shouldn't have to deal with this. It is all him, all his actions, and they are unforgivable. Just by coping with this makes you a strong person. Don't say you are not."

"Thanks Harry…" The boy wiped his eyes.

"You are welcome, Draco." The two boys sat in each other's arms for a couple of minutes before Draco broke the silence.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Draco?"

"…I want to tell you everything. Well, not literally, but some things I want to say. Can I?" Draco asked, looking into emerald eyes.

"…Of course you can, Draco."

Draco smiled and took a deep breath, wondering where to start.

xxx

There we have it, Draco is saved! You didn't think he wasn't going to be, did you? Ha, we still have a few more chapters to go. Will he get his revenge? You'll have to wait and see…

Thanks to DeviousLightningShot, Diddleymaz and GoodNaughtyGirl for your reviews, and thanks to everyone who keeps reading and reviewing! You guys are so awesome. Thanks for reading, and maybe leave a review? Especially if you haven't yet? I would appreciate it… He he.

Have a good day!


	11. Confession

Hello, my 41 followers! Yay, I can't believe that many people actually read this. So… You know this is a Drarry story, right? Naturally, you do. Why am I asking? No reason. *Innocent whistle*

Enjoy chapter eleven! ^.^ If you don't, I am sorry. T.T

xxx

"Well, I don't actually know where to start…" Draco said, chuckling slightly.

"What sort of thing do you want to tell me?" Harry asked. Draco was silent, pondering for a moment on what to say. He was going to confess, as it is a bit hard to do that when you are locked in the Malfoy Dungeons, but he just wanted to spill his heart out. Tell him things he has never told another living soul, not even Pansy.

"Well, I just feel as though I'd be able to get over what has happened in my life if I… Tell someone some things that have actually happened to me. Apart from that summer, naturally."

"If it makes you feel better, then I am listening." Harry said with a smile.

"Thanks, but I don't exactly know how to start…"

"Well, how about I start for you?" His blonde friend nodded. "…If you don't mind me asking, why did Lucius hit you when you were three? That sounded so much better in my head, I am so sorry." Draco just smiled to show it was okay before speaking.

"It's fine, that's exactly what I wanted to talk about. Well, I can remember it clearly. I had gone ahead of my fath-… _Lucius, _and I had bumped into Ron. He doesn't remember it I don't think. Anyway, I was talking to him for a minute, hoping that I had finally found a true friend. But then both of our parents came along. Lucius said to me not to speak to them like he does, and Mrs Weasley said to stay away from us as we're bad people. I don't blame her, really, with how he has always treated the Weasleys. He pulled me by my hand round the corner to my mother, and slapped me hard across my face. My own mum didn't even look shocked at it; she just asked what I did. I still can't believe she did that, I was standing right there by her with a bruise forming on my cheek and tears in my eyes, and she didn't flinch or comfort me or _anything. _I don't know who I hate the worst on that day." Draco said, anger flickering through his grey eyes. Harry gently placed an arm on Draco's arm. He flinched slightly, it was barely even noticeable, but it still angered Harry even further. No person should flinch just by one touching them, especially when their father is the cause.

"I can't believe them, Draco. I seriously don't understand them at all."

"Neither do I, Harry, I never have." He replied sadly.

"Do you want to stop talking about this?" Harry asked. Draco shook his head.

"No. It won't make me any stronger to avoid it. I need to talk about it; it's the only way I can get over the past and look into the future." Harry nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"I was quite scared of him after that day. He didn't carry on with hitting me, it was only that once for a while, but I was still terrified of the idea of angering him. About a week after, I cried when he shouted at me, I can't remember why he did. He slapped me again and told me not to be such a baby, and such behaviour wasn't right for a Malfoy. He carried on with only hitting me around once or twice a week until my fifth birthday. I accidentally dropped a beautiful ornament of a Dragon I got from Pansy, whose family I met on my fourth birthday and who attended my party on this one. Well, when I say _my _birthday party, it was more of a way of Lucius to show off that his heir was growing up. Anyway, I dropped it after all the guests had left and I had to take all my presents upstairs. He repaired it with a simple spell, but not after he hit me a few times. One of them was from his cane for the very first time, which cut me deeply right behind my ear and onto my neck. It left my first scar." He said, moving several strands of platinum blonde hair away from his ear, revealing a faded scar.

"I can't understand him. I seriously can't." Harry mumbled, looking at the mark of a criminal.

"None of us can. Anyway, after that he seemed to find a like for the hitting. He hit me at least once every day or every other day. He would find any excuse; something I said or did, a certain look, even nothing at all it seemed at times. Mother always encouraged me to read, which I did, and enjoyed. I remember one time, when I was ten, they were both out somewhere, I looked through our library to have a look at other books which my mother hadn't given to me. Through the few hours they were gone, I read a book about a family. It was a happy book, and I didn't understand why the fathers in the book acted like they did. There was no hitting, no shouting, just love and affection, something I did not understand. I didn't remember any of them giving me a hug or anything like that. So, when they got back, I made the terrible mistake of asking them why the father in the book was like that, and he wasn't. He got furious, started yelling at me that he had told me that he was just like any other father, and that I hadn't learnt a thing and I had no respect for him. My punishment? The first ever c_rucio_ on me. He only held it for about ten seconds, which I know is quite long, but he has done it longer, much longer." He shuddered at the memory of the five whole minutes of being held under the curse, when he was captured.

"My God, Draco. That man seriously has something wrong with him." Harry said.

"Yes, I think he actually does. And I am serious." Draco replied.

"Anyway, carry on, if you want." Draco nodded to show he did want to continue.

"I hadn't ever felt anything worse. It was cruel, a child to be held in that much pain. After he released it, he hit me a few times, and sent me up to my room. I held back the tears I wanted to let out before I had closed the door. I buried my head in the pillow and just cried. From that day on, I realised he wasn't like a normal dad, and had been lying to me all of these years about him being one. I was no longer proud of my name, but I pretended to be. Soon enough, it was the start of first year. I decided that first morning that I was going to just wear a mask. Get people to believe I love my father, and all of that. Oh, and of course, I had to learn a concealing charm early. How do I say this next part…?" Draco pondered, and chuckled.

"Say what?"

"Well, you remember that time right back then in Madam Malkins'?" Harry thought for a moment before nodding.

"Of course I do. You were expressing your love of your wealth and how you were going to be in Slytherin, like all Malfoys."

"Well, part of it was because I was pretending, and because I didn't really know how to greet people properly, that was how Lucius always told me to. But the other part was because… Well… I kind of looked at you and had an immediate crush on you." He said, looking awkward. Harry chuckled.

"Wow, I have been irresistible since the age of eleven. It's lovely to know." Draco laughed and continued.

"Anyway, so naturally, I tried to impress you, and failed epically. I also failed epically when you rejected my friendship, but I understood, behind the mask. I tried to just forget about it, but I couldn't help but fancy you. Young love and all that, right? So I decided, because I am a Malfoy, and he rejected my friendship, no one will notice if I act like a complete git to you. So I did. To get no suspicions about anything that went on at home, and so I could try and forget any feelings I had for you."

"Wow. If someone had told me that just at the beginning of the year, I would believe they were completely mad." Harry chuckled, and Draco smiled.

"Yes. But it didn't work, of course. So, when I overheard Lucius talking to mother about how he was going to help Voldemort come back in the form of Tom Riddle through that diary in second year, I knew I had to do something. I couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt, so I talked to Dobby. I was always a good friend of him; he was a good companion the days I got lonely. I told him that he should warn you not to go back to school. The thought of you not being there devastated me, but the thought of you getting hurt or even dying got to me more."

"That's… Well, I don't know what to say to that, honestly." Harry laughed.

"I don't blame you. I got furious with Dobby though, when he confessed to me that the bludger in that game was jinxed by him. I remember him saying '_Dobby is most aggrieved, Master Malfoy. Dobby had to iron his hands". _I couldn't stay mad at the poor elf, bless him. So, I walked to the hospital wing a couple of hours after being released with him, and told him if he apologised to you and warned you again I would forgive him."

"He said the same thing to me. Well, not Master Malfoy, naturally."

"Ha, naturally. Anyway, in the next couple of years, I still felt an attraction towards you. To be honest, it scared me. If Lucius had ever known I was gay… Anyway, when we were in fifth year, I started forgetting about the feelings. I guess it was because he had hit me for defending you, never mind having a crush on you. By sixth year, I had completely ignored any attraction, because of… You know."

"Draco, why are you telling me this? Don't take this the wrong way, it's just that I thought you just wanted to talk about your dad."

"Well… That's not the only thing I wanted to talk about."

"Oh."

"Well… I…"

"Yes?"

"I… Oh for the sake of Merlin. IhaveabigcrushonyouandIjustwantedtotellyoubecauseI wasgoingtoyesterdaybutdidn'thavethechance. There, I said it." Draco blurted out, and felt a blush starting to form on his usually pale cheeks.

"Um… Said what? I did not get a word of that." Draco groaned and put his head in his hands.

"I have a big crush on you and I just wanted to tell you because I was going to yesterday but didn't have the chance. There you go." Harry looked at the blonde shocked. He looked up and opened one grey eye to find Harry smiling at him. Harry reached out and placed his hand on Draco's.

"You'll be glad to know that… I feel the same way about you, Draco." He said, blushing slightly. It was Draco's turn to look shocked. His eyes widened and filled with happiness, and opened up further when he felt a pair of lips on his own. They closed as Draco kissed the Gryffindor passionately. His heart filled up with warmth he had never felt before. _Love? _He asked himself silently.

"OH MY GOD. I told you he likes you! That is so sweet." They both break apart and look at Pansy, Blaise, Ron, Hermione and Pomfrey all standing in the doorway, staring at them.

"Wow. Okay then. Let me just get my head around this…" Hermione said. Ron just stared, not quite sure of what to make of the situation.

"So that's why you wanted to get us out of there last night." Blaise said to his girlfriend.

"Yep. Oh Draco, I am so proud of you!" Pansy squealed as she hugged the blonde softly. He hugged her back with one arm, his other hand still being in Harry's.

"So… How are you feeling, Mister Malfoy?" Pomfrey asked awkwardly.

"Alright, the potions have really helped."

"How is your chest? And the burn? What about your ankle?" She fretted.

"Burn? What burn?" Harry asked. Draco looked away before mumbling.

"He burned my back with _incendio_. Stung like hell."

"Oh for God's sake, that crazy bastard. What about your chest?"

"Well, Mister Malfoy suffered from several broken ribs."

"BROKEN RIBS?"

"And an ankle." Draco added.

"WHAT?! AS WELL AS ALL OF THE REST?! I am seriously going to…" He stopped when Draco squeezed his hand lightly.

"It's okay, Harry. I am fine; they are healing quite quickly." He reassured him. Their friends, and Madam Pomfrey, all looked down at their connected hands.

"So… Um… Are you both together now, then…?" Ron asked.

"Well, we both like each other… So if that's okay with you, Draco, I presume yes." Harry said. Draco beamed at him and nodded. Pansy, once more, squealed.

"Aw! That is so fucking adorable! You've liked him most of the year, and now you are both _together!_"

"Miss Parkingson, please stop squealing in that horrid voice about who are now 'together'." Severus entered the room with Minerva and Remus.

"We can't stay for long because we only have five minutes until…" Remus stopped when he got close to the bed. He looked at the pair holding hands and how Draco leaned against Harry in a fond way. He smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Something you need to tell us, boys?" He asked with a wink. Both of them looked away, blushing, but did not release their hold.

"It seems like Harry and Draco have a certain fondness for one and other, doesn't it, Remus?" Severus asked him, smirking. The others didn't make much of a note of it; he had changed a lot recently.

"Well. I wish you all the best. We better get going; first lesson will start in a minute." Minerva said, winking at the pair before turning around to leave the infirmary.

"I do too, believe it or not. Maybe you will influence him, Draco." Severus said with a shrug.

"Well, it would be a bit hypocritical _not _to accept them, don't you think, Severus?" Remus smirked.

"Shut up, Remus. Let's go." He said before dragging a laughing Remus along with him. The students stared after the two professors.

"You don't think…?" Hermione started, but shook her head. "Alright, I just want to say before we go that I am completely alright with this. I mean, you have been very close, and we all know Draco isn't like we thought he was all along. You two are good for each other. Oh, here is your work for first and second lessons. Enjoy."

"I am alright with it too. As long as it makes you happy, I'm fine." Ron added, grabbing his girlfriend's hand as they made it out of the infirmary. Pansy simply squealed and hugged them both.

"I am so NOT fine with it." Blaise laughed as he saw the looks on all three faces. "I am just joking, honestly! I don't mind. I kind of guessed Draco was up to something." He said. They said goodbye and walked out of the room, hand in hand. Draco sighed in relief and leant against his boyfriend.

"I am so glad they are happy with it." He said.

"Me too." Harry replied, smiling.

"Anyway, I hate to break this up, but I do need you to take some potions and I need to apply some to that burn." Pomfrey walked back to them from the other side of the room, where she had gathered her things. The two boys didn't even realise she had gone. They reluctantly let go of their hands and Draco sat up.

"Alright, keep still while I apply this. The quicker it is done, the better. Could you lift up your shirt, please?" Draco did as he was told and lifted up the shirt. Harry winced at the sight of his boyfriend's back. Luckily, thanks to Pomfrey's potions, most of the cuts and bruises that were on his back had either healed or were healing quickly. But, the burn had only just started to heal slightly and was huge, spreading from his shoulder blades down to his lower back.

"Brace yourself; this will sting a bit more than last time as it is stronger." Pomfrey warned him before she poured a little of the potion onto the burn. Draco hissed in pain, but didn't move as she rubbed it into the skin. Only a few seconds later, the stinging reduced to just a slight tingling sensation.

"There we are. That burn should be healed within the next few days. Drink this as well; it will help it heal quicker." She said, handing him a potion. He downed it in one gulp, shuddering at the vile taste.

"Thank you. Could we maybe have some breakfast? And something to drink? I haven't actually had anything since the other night…" Draco said.

"Oh my goodness, with all of the healing I have been doing, I never stopped to think about that!" She gasped. Draco just chuckled.

"Well, he didn't exactly greet me in the morning with 'Good morning, Draco! Would you like a nice cup of tea and perhaps a croissant to go with your kidnapping, or are you fine?'" Pomfrey smiled and rushed off to get him and Harry some breakfast.

"God, Draco, you must be parched!" Harry exclaimed.

"I am, now it's been mentioned. Potions just don't do anything for you. I guess I didn't notice with all that has gone on." A minute later, she came back into the room with a tray of food and drinks.

"Here you are, boys. I wasn't too sure on what you liked, so I just got a range of things for you."

"Thank you very much, Pomfrey." Harry said.

"Yes, thank you. It looks great." Draco added. She smiled at them.

"It is no problem at all. I am going to be heading back to my office, just call me if you need anything at all." They both nodded at her as she left. Draco happily picked up a glass of orange juice, and took a deep gulp of the refreshing liquid. They tucked into the food, Draco naturally eating more. About ten minutes later, Pomfrey came back into the room to take the tray back. Harry sighed and picked up the Transfiguration books by them.

"We better get started with this. Hey, it isn't too bad, we are looking into Animagi now! I don't think we will be able to have our own forms, but it is certainly interesting." Harry said happily.

"Yes, it sure is." Draco smirked, deciding to keep his own fox Animagus a secret for the time being. He wanted to tell everyone about his form in the grandest way possible. This is Draco Malfoy, after all. But, as he thought about it, that name didn't mean much to him anymore.

xxx

Reviewing will get you your very own Tom Felton!*

*Subject to availability.

On a serious note, thank you very much to the people who reviewed, and those who keep continuing to do so! If you keep to that… I would be happy. Hehe. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I think I will be back to weekly posts now I am back at school. Sorry about that. Though saying that, I need something to do around my revision and things, and I have messed up my ankle so I can't go out as much… I guess we'll have to see! xD

Take care!


	12. Narcissa's Surprise

Sorry this took a while to be uploaded. To make it up to you, the chapter is slightly longer than usual. Enjoy!

xxx

For the rest of the day, Draco and Harry had just carried on completing the work that they were given by Hermione, chatting with their friends, Minerva, Remus and Severus when they visited. The day went quite fast for the two as they enjoyed the other's company. They sighed in relief though once they had completed the last task set for them, and Draco leaned back onto the bed and closed his eyes. He opened them when Harry rested his head carefully on his chest.

"It's different, isn't it?" He said, looking up at Draco with large emerald eyes. Draco nodded.

"Very. If someone had told me that we would be in a relationship at the beginning of this year, I would have thought that they were completely and utterly mental."

"At least it's different in a nice way." Draco smiled and ran his fingers through his boyfriend's raven locks. He jumped when Harry sat up suddenly, looking at Pomfrey, who was standing there with a tray and grinning.

"I must say, this is a better sight to see than you both yelling at each other." She said, placing the tray down onto the bed. Draco and Harry grinned back at her.

"Here you are, then. I got the house elves to get a few things they were serving in the Great Hall. Enjoy." She smiled once more and went back to her office. They tucked in right away into their dinner, savouring the tastes of their favourite foods. Pomfrey laughed when she came back five minutes later to find the tray empty and the two boys smiling at her innocently.

"Well then. I guess you were both very hungry." She chuckled as she cleared off the tray. She turned back to Draco, smiling.

"You will be glad to know that as long as you are careful with your back, you should be able to leave tomorrow morning. I know you haven't been able to walk, but your ankle has healed and so have your ribs, plus your energy levels are back up, too. All of your other injuries have either healed fully or are very close. You are a very lucky man, Mister Malfoy."

"Really? I can go?" He asked hopefully, earning a nod in response.

"Yes, but be careful of that back. Just keep applying the potion I have been giving to you. Speaking of which, here." She said, handing him the usual bottle. "You can apply it yourself now, I don't have to worry about you turning with bad ribs anymore." He thanked her and asked Harry to lift up his shirt for him, who nodded. He poured a little of the potion onto his hand and rubbed it into the burn. He didn't even wince at the sting; he was used to it by now.

"There we are. Now, as soon as they come we can-"

"Can we come in? Are they still eating?" Pomfrey was interrupted by Hermione poking her head around the door, accompanied by the usual visitors.

"They aren't eating, but they seem to be up to something else…" Pansy said, smirking. Harry and Draco blushed, and Harry released Draco's shirt once he had finished.

"H-He was just applying the potion…" Harry mumbled, just about loud enough for them to hear. They walked around his bed, the three usual professors standing at the back. Remus frowned and looked at the time. His eyes widened as he turned to Severus.

"Um… Severus? Would you happen to have a vial of Wolfsbane on you…?"

xxx

The rest of the night up until curfew was very entertaining indeed. As Severus did indeed have Wolfsbane on him, it was spent with the six friends chatting by Draco's bed, Professor McGonagall and Pomfrey chatting among themselves, while Severus had Moony jumping up at him and trying to lick his face. They all laughed at the two professors, and Severus did his best to keep the cold glare on his face, but Moony wasn't having any of it and continued his cheeky wolf attitude until Severus finally smiled and even let out a little chuckle. Satisfied, the brown wolf knocked Severus down into a chair when not expected and jumped onto his lap.

"I think he likes you, Severus." Draco chuckled at the pair. Moony let out a little bark and licked Severus' face once more.

"I'll take that as a yes." Blaise grinned.

"Oh my, it is five minutes until curfew! We better get going." Minerva said, after getting up from her chair.

"Yes, let's. Moony? Get off, you silly mutt." Severus said to the wolf lying on his lap. Moony whined slightly, but jumped off. Severus groaned and did his best to shake off all the brown wolf fur that had stuck to his robes.

"Alright, see you tomorrow." Hermione said, giving both of them a quick hug. Pansy gave both of them a hug too, but paused when she hugged Draco.

"I am so glad you told him, Draco. You two are an excellent couple." She whispered in his ear. She got up off the bed and grabbed Blaise's hand, who nodded at both of them before leaving the infirmary.

"See you later." Ron said, taking Hermione's hand. They left the room too, followed by the three professors, one of which who licked both of their faces first. Thankfully, it was Moony.

"Alright, do you boys need anything?"

"I'm fine, Madam. Just a bit tired." Draco said, stifling a yawn.

"I am too." Harry said.

"Good. I am going back to my office then, call me if you need me." They both nodded at her and she left. Draco yawned loudly and laid back into his bed. Harry grinned at him.

"Room for one more in there, Draco?" Harry said, grinning. Draco blinked, but then smiled back and moved up slightly so his boyfriend could get inside the covers with him.

"Watch my back, otherwise I'll kill you." He mumbled. He reached to the Gryffindor next to him and wrapped his arms around him. He rubbed his head into Harry's chest while Harry wrapped one arm around Draco, with his other hand gently stroking Draco's blonde hair. He fell asleep in a matter of minutes thanks to the warmth and comfort of Harry. The said boy watched his boyfriend for a few moments. He looked so peaceful while he was sleeping, and his light hair and pale skin reminded Harry of an angel. _That sounds like something Pansy would say._ Harry thought to himself, grinning. Still, Draco did indeed look beautiful, and the amount of beauty Harry saw was almost too much to take. After observing the delicate features of Draco for a couple of more moments, he eventually turned the lamp off next to them with his wand, placed it onto the bedside table, and snuggled into his boyfriend. For once, Harry fell asleep quickly, and it was a lovely slumber at that.

xxx

"Boys? It is almost time for breakfast! Wake up!" Pomfrey called, trying to wake the two boys sleeping next to each other with a shake. They did not wake up; instead, they just cuddled up closer in their sleep. She sighed and realised the nice and sweet method of waking them up would not work.

"WAKE UP! YOU'VE GOT TO GET READY!" She shouted at them. They sat up straight away, both with startled expressions on their faces.

"AH! Oh dear Merlin, you didn't have to yell!" Draco groaned. Harry nodded and groaned as well.

"Come on, get up! You can walk now, Draco, so don't pull that one on me. I have your clothes right here, come on!"

"I need a shower!" Draco said.

"JUST USE A SPELL! Dear goodness. Hurry up; breakfast will be ready in a few minutes!" The two boys did as they were told and got out of bed. Neither of them had ever heard her shout that loud, and they'd rather it not continue. Draco hurried while he applied the potion and shoved his clothes on, managing to be ready at the same time as Harry.

"Alright, go on then. You've got a couple of minutes." She said. They left quickly.

"Wow, it feels nice to walk again!" Draco said as they walked quickly down the corridors.

"I can imagine. Well, if you can call _this _walking!" Harry replied, slightly out of breath. Draco chuckled and reached out to take his hand. Harry looked up at him and smiled. When they made it to the corridor with the entrance to the Great Hall in, they looked at each other and their joint hands.

"Shall we let go?" Harry asked. Draco paused for a moment, before grinning.

"Nah, we both get enough attention as it is. Better sooner rather than later!" Harry grinned back at him and nodded. They walked over to the grand door and it opened. All eyes moved from their food to the pair, and there was a collection of gasps across the hall. They all stared at their connected hands, not sure of what to make of the situation. As they walked down by the Gryffindor table to their usual seats, whispers surrounded them and different looks appeared on their faces. Some looked disgusted, some looked shocked, most confused, and even a few who looked excited, which seemed to be mainly female. They sat in two seats beside Pansy and Blaise, who nodded at them, grinning. Professor McGonagall smiled at them and their bravery, before clearing her throat.

"Good morning, everyone. As you can see, Draco Malfoy has recovered from his ordeal and will be joining your classes again."

"What happened? One minute he is missing, the next we get told he is in the hospital wing and then he walks in holding hands with _Harry Potter_!" Some seventh year called out from the Ravenclaw table. Minerva was about to reply, but then Draco got up from his seat.

"Alright, everyone. I think I shall explain this all to you. Some know more than others, but clearly you don't know everything. May I, professor?" Minerva nodded. He smiled and strode off to the front, so everyone could see him clearly. Harry stared at his boyfriend, shocked (but happy) at his boyfriend's sudden burst of confidence.

"Right, okay. All of you know by now that Lucius Malfoy is a cold-hearted bastard who has abused me for whatever reason over the years, and it was a shock to you. Well, I think you also got told he kidnapped me the other day, but do you know why?" They all shook their heads. "Well, it's because he was furious with the fact that everyone knows about what he has done. So, he tortured me in the Malfoy dungeons as a punishment, and was going to just leave me to die there. Luckily, they all saved me just minutes before I died. So, that sums that part up."

"What about you and Potter?" A Slytherin yelled.

"Well, let me make this blunt. I have fancied him for years, I fancied him even more this year and I told him. He kissed me and then, BAM! We are together. Simple as that." A couple of people chuckled.

"But haven't you hated each other all of these years? And haven't you always been a git? What changed?" Someone from the Gryffindor table asked.

"Well, there is a fine line between love and hate. All of these years, I have just acted like that because I thought that if people thought I was like that, they would find out how vulnerable I have been, and I could hide my crush. This year though, after what happened that summer, I just couldn't take it anymore. So I removed that mask in a way, and I am glad I did. I can promise you something, too; Lucius is not going to hurt me again. Not without a fight anyway." He said proudly. He saw that he had covered everything, nodded, and sat back down in his seat. His friends all smiled at him.

"Well, there we have it. Hurry and finish your breakfast, lessons will be starting soon." Minerva said, before smiling at Draco and sitting down herself.

"That was great, Draco." Harry said, planting a kiss on his lips.

xxx

It was during his third lesson, Divination, that Draco got a message to go to the Headmistress' office as soon as possible. He did not mind, of course. He squeezed Harry's hand and convinced Trelawney that he was not going to die before he made his leave. He walked through the empty corridors towards Minerva's office. Once he arrived, he stated the password and watched the gargoyles move out of the way. He made his way up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Come on in." Minerva called from inside. Draco walked inside, and sat in a seat she gestured to.

"Is anything the matter, professor?" He asked politely.

"Well, not really, but it is an interesting matter." She answered.

"How is it interesting?" He said.

"…Well, your mother has turned herself in." Draco stared at her, eyes wide open in shock.

"…Are you actually being serious? She escaped with Lucius!" Draco said after a moment of hesitation.

"Yes, I am. She has literally just come to the Ministry and turned herself in. She has been pleading to see you before she gets placed in Azkaban." Minerva explained.

"Wow. Okay, well, I guess I'll see her. Maybe I'll actually get a decent explanation off her." He replied.

"Right, I will be back in a moment with her and Kingsley. Don't worry, she has no wand and her wrists are bound so she cannot do any other form of magic or try to escape." She said, before flooing to the Ministry. Draco sighed and placed his head in his hands, going over what just happened. His mother had turned herself in? Why? And why did she want to talk to Draco? It wasn't like she had ever had a nice ordinary chat with her son before. He kept asking himself these questions, before his thoughts were interrupted by a green flame. In the fireplace stood Minerva, Kingsley and his mother. She looked as if she had not slept for days, what with the bags that shaded under her eyes.

"Hello, Draco." Kingsley said to the Slytherin. He merely nodded in acknowledgement, as his eyes glared at his mother. She smiled slightly, and winced when Draco narrowed his eyes further.

"What do you want, mother? Tell me that you're sorry for just letting Lucius hit me all of those times? Well, it's not good enough. You've never been a decent mother to me, why bother starting now?" He demanded, getting up from his chair.

"Draco, please-" Minerva started.

"No! Does she expect me to bloody cheer that she is here, skip over to her and wrap her in a hug?!"

"Draco, please just sit down." Kingsley asked. Draco sighed, but sat back down. He took a deep breath and looked over at his mother.

"Right. What do you actually want to tell me, mother?"

"I just wanted… Well… I know you don't want it, but I am truly sorry." She ignored Draco's snort and continued. "I have just been blinded by my love for Lucius that I just overlooked what he did. I just wanted him to love me like I loved him, and if agreeing with his ways did that, so be it. I have always loved Lucius really, from back when we were in school. He wasn't as bad then, nowhere near as much. I couldn't help but fall for him, really. So when he… Treated you like he did, I knew it was wrong. I knew I should have been a proper mother, but I was too scared of losing him. I know now that it was the wrong thing to do. If I could go back and change what I did, I most certainly would. I know it's just a word, Draco, but I am sorry. I need to say it, even though I know you most likely won't forgive me. I know it won't stop me from being sentenced to Azkaban, but I don't care. I know I deserve it." She said, her eyes glistening with tears. Draco stared at his mother, not sure of what words to say.

"…I don't think I could ever forgive you, mother. But I don't hate you as much as I did. Nowhere near as much as I hate Lucius. " She merely nodded and turned back to Kingsley.

"Let's go back. The sooner, the better." She said. Kingsley nodded and grabbed her arm. They disappeared in a burst of green fire. Minerva looked at Draco, who had his head in his hands once more.

"Draco, are you alright?" She asked him. He looked up at her and nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I am okay. I'm just… Shocked, really." Professor McGonagall chuckled.

"I am too. When I got the message from the Ministry, I could not believe my eyes. Anyway, you better be getting off to your lesson. Changeover is right this minute, so you can just go to your fourth lesson. Which I believe is… Oh, it is Transfiguration. Lovely, let's go." He nodded and picked up his bag. They both exited the office and went downstairs to find the students walking to their next lesson.

"Draco!" He suddenly felt a pair of muscular arms wrapped around him. He laughed and hugged back.

"Hey, Harry." Harry smiled at him and looked at Professor McGonagall.

"So, what did you two talk about then?" He asked.

"Well, _we _didn't exactly talk…" Draco started, but was interrupted by Minerva.

"Not here, Mister Malfoy. Tell him later. Come on all of you, to Transfiguation!" She said, and strolled down the corridor. The friends nodded and followed her to their lesson.

xxx

"You should all remember what we did last lesson, including you, Potter and Malfoy, because you did it too. Anyone care to refresh our minds?" Several hands rose.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"We were looking into the basics of Animagus forms, Professor, and how one learns this ability."

"Yes, that is right, 5 points to Gryffindor. Can anyone tell me, can one choose their Animagus form? Yes, Mister Malfoy."

"Only in extremely rare circumstances. An Animagus form is determined by their personality and traits, and is sometimes the same as their Patronus."

"Great, 5 points to Slytherin. What is the difference between Transfiguration and the Animagus ability? Yes, Mister Potter."

"Being an Animagus is an ability, which does not need a spell with practise, while Transfiguration does require a spell."

"Good, 5 points to Gryffindor. Yes, Miss Parkingson?" She asks Pansy, who had raised her hand.

"If the Animagus ability is not the same as Transfiguration, why do we do it in this lesson?"

"Ah, it's because it is necessary for you to learn this, and this seems to be the most appropriate lesson. Plus, as I am an Animagus myself, I am the most experienced teacher to teach this to you."

"Okay, thank you Professor."

"You're welcome, Miss Parkingson. Now, I doubt that any of you will know this because it was not in the section I gave to you to read. Does anyone know how one in their Animagus form acts with real animals, and also Werewolves?" Most of the class looked in between one another. Even Hermione Granger was not so sure, or Harry, even though both his father and his godfather had the Animagus ability. They had a slight bit of knowledge, but not a huge lot. One hand rose into the air, and everyone stared at this one individual.

"Oh, yes, Mister Malfoy?"

"Animagi have the ability to communicate with proper animals. There is a clear understanding of want and need in this ability, and there are some theories on how they do communicate, for example, telepathy. They suspect telepathy because of how Animagi can communicate through telepathy. Oh, and because Werewolves only attack humans when they're transformed, well, if they haven't taken Wolfsbane, Animagi can communicate with them too."

"Excellent, Mister Malfoy! 15 points to Slytherin!" She said, smiling. Harry looked at Draco and mouthed _how? _The blonde just shrugged, but grinned knowingly.

"Alright, I want you to watch my transformation as a cat, and see how my behaviour is like a regular cat." She transformed and walked round the students' desks, but then stopped at Harry's and Draco's. She felt some sort of magic coming from Draco, the sort that only one with the Animagus ability can hold. She moved on to avoid superstition, and jumped onto the odd students' desk while she was at it.

xxx

"Mister Malfoy? Please may I have a word?" Professor McGonagall called once the students were leaving. Draco nodded and gestured to his friends to go on without him. He walked up to her desk at the other end of the classroom.

"What is the matter, Professor?" He asked.

"Well, I couldn't help but notice something when I was in my Animagus form…" She heard Draco's sharp intake of breath and chuckled. "So that's how you know so much about it."

"I'm sorry, Madam, I know about me having to get registered and all…" He said.

"Yes, we can get that done soon as possible, probably today. I could sense that that you have not learnt this ability for long, so it is fine, especially what had happened recently. We could go after dinner."

"Thank you, Professor. Is that all you wanted to say to me?"

"Yes. Well, first I am curious. What is your Animagus form?" She asked.

"A white fox, Professor." She smiled.

"Beautiful. Could I maybe… See? I know it is cheeky, but I have never taught a student with the ability before." He nodded and transformed into his gorgeous form. He looked up at her with his large grey eyes and flicked out his black-tipped tail.

"Wow, you are so lovely." She said as she stroked the snow white fur. He transformed back and grinned at her.

"Anyway, you better get going. We will go to the Ministry as soon as we have both eaten our dinner to get you registered."

"Thank you, Professor." He said and left the classroom.

xxx

There we have it. I could not help but laugh at the thought of Snape licking their faces like a dog, haha. Anyway, thanks for those who reviewed, keep going, maybe? It's just a click of that little button over there… Especially if you haven't yet ;) It makes me happy, as does writing this. It distracts me from my headaches… I have them all the time, literally, and my "medication" that the hospital prescribed me with makes it worse. Oh well, it's not the end of the world.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and keep reading! :D


	13. Puri the Fox

Hello again! This chapter isn't anything too exciting really, but I hope you like it anyway. I would just like to say that the way people register as an Animagus is different in this, because it was easier how I did it. I thought I would just say that now. Also, I would just like to reply to Natalie Neko's review here, as she was a guest. Everyone else is free to skip to the chapter!

Reply: I am so glad that you like this story as much as you do! And I really enjoyed writing the part where Draco confesses. I am sorry about Narcissa's character, but the way she was worried about Draco (like you said) is going to pop up somewhere in the story, you'd be glad to know. Thank you a lot for taking the time to translate this! When I read it, I was so happy that someone actually likes my work so much that they would actually translate it into their native language. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

Anyhow, on with the chapter!

xxx

Dinner came soon enough, and Draco was shovelling his food down almost as fast as Ron was. Not quite, though, that was a very hard task indeed.

"Draco, why are you eating so quickly? You must be starving!" Harry exclaimed while he helped himself to a serving of roast chicken.

"Well, I kind of have to go somewhere with Professor McGonagall as soon as possible, so I have to hurry." He replied before shoving a forkful of carrots into his mouth.

"Speaking of Professor McGonagall, why did you have to go to her office earlier? You haven't actually told us yet." Pansy asked. All of the friends nodded and looked at Draco, waiting for his reply. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his right hand.

"Well, to put it simply, my mother turned herself into the Ministry and she wanted to speak with me." The others stared at him, looking like a gang of goldfish with their mouths open in shock.

"Why on Earth did she turn herself in all of a sudden? She seemed to be pretty alright with the idea of escaping with Lucius the other day." Hermione said.

"She just said stuff about how she has been blinded by her love for Lucius all of this time… She came to apologise and she said she knows she deserves to be in Azkaban."

"That's no excuse in my opinion. No mother should just stand by and allow their husband to just abuse their own child like that. That is almost as bad as actually committing the abuse yourself." Blaise said in a frustrated tone.

"I know, I don't forgive her. But what she did say to me made me hate her less than I did before, a lot less than I hate Lucius. I saw the tears in her eyes, I heard the emotion in her voice. It was something I have never witnessed from her. It was… Different, to say the least." He said with a thoughtful look dwelling in his eyes. They were silent for a few moments, none of them sure on how to break the silence. It was interrupted by a call from Professor McGonagall.

"Mister Malfoy? If you have finished your dinner, come along then. We must go." He nodded at her and excused himself from the Gryffindor table (which everyone had gotten used to by now).

"Will you tell us about this later, Draco?" Harry asked, looking up at the blonde.

"I'll think about it. It's nothing bad, I promise." He replied, and bent down to kiss him passionately.

"See you, Draco." He said after they finally broke apart. His other friends nodded, looking a little surprised at the intensity of the kiss. Draco walked out of the Great Hall by Minerva's side.

"Right, let's go to my office, we will Floo to the Ministry." She said as they walked through the deserted hallways. Due to them both being quite tall, their long legs carried them to her office quite quickly. The gargoyles moved out of their path as Minerva said the password, and they made their way up the spiralling staircase. They entered her office and went to the fireplace.

"It is big enough to transport both of us at a time." She said. Draco nodded in understanding and held her arm lightly as she reached out to grab a pinch of Floo powder. Before he knew it, they had exited a fireplace at the Ministry, which didn't have as many visitors at this time, due to it being a little late for visiting times. Kingsley Shacklebolt was standing by the fountain and chatting to a fellow Auror when he looked over and saw the pair walking towards them. He smiled, excused himself, and walked over to them.

"Good evening, Minerva and Draco. I will take you to her now so you can register." He said, and gestured for them to follow him. After a few minutes of walking, they stood outside an office. Draco gulped as he looked at the door in front of them. Kingsley looked at him and smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry about it, Draco. She will only ask you a couple of questions; you won't get into trouble or anything. Plus, you have Minerva here with you anyway, and she registered just fine herself. Anyway, I would go in with you but I have some things to do. Good luck to you." Kingsley excused himself and left with a wave. Minerva knocked on the door, and almost immediately a young woman in a beautiful green dress answered. Her also green eyes lit up when she saw Minerva standing there.

"Minerva! It's so good to see you!" The girl beamed as she gave Minerva a hug.

"It's a pleasure to see you too, Jasmine." Minerva replied as she hugged her back. The two women broke apart, and Jasmine waved a hand for them to go inside her office.

"Come on in, both of you!" She said, and they entered. Draco stared in awe at the beautiful room, it was decorated with elegant furniture, which seemed to be designed with snakes in mind. He realised that the room seemed to be one of a Slytherin with how it was coloured with green and silver. Jasmine chuckled at the look of amazement on Draco's face.

"Lovely, isn't it? I thought you would like it too, being a Slytherin too and all." He looked at her.

"You were a Slytherin too?" He asked.

"Yes. My mother was a Ravenclaw, so I had to make a few changes." She said, sitting down at her desk.

"Your mother worked here too?" Draco asked, as he and Minerva sat in the two chairs in front of Jasmine's desk.

"Oh, yes she did. I better actually introduce myself properly! My name is Jasmine Bell, but you can just call me Jasmine. I have been working here for a few years, after my mother retired. She was the woman who registered Minerva here." Minerva smiled and nodded.

"Do you have an Animagus form yourself, Jasmine?" Draco asked.

"Yes, it is a royal python." She said with a smile. She clapped her hands together. "So! To business here. Now, I need to ask you a couple of questions, okay?" Draco nodded. She smiled again and grabbed a piece of paper with some writing on, which Draco couldn't quite read.

"Right, first question. What is your Animagus form? Naturally." She asked with a wink.

"A white fox." He replied with a slight grin. She whistled as she wrote it down.

"Ooh, nice. I adore foxes, almost as much as snakes! Anyway, next question. What is your date of birth?"

"5th June, 1980."

"Right, okay. How long have you been able to transform into your Animagus form, Draco?"

"About 5 days ago, Jasmine."

"That's alright then, most register within one week anyway. Do you wish to have a nickname for your Animagus form, Draco?" Draco thought for a moment, and then smiled.

"I think it shall be… Puri." She smiled and wrote it down.

"That's all I needed to ask you. But, I do need a family member to sign this as you are under seventeen, which is rather difficult because of… Certain circumstances." Draco just smiled at this.

"Would Severus be able to sign it? He is my godfather, after all." He asked.

"Well, normally it would have to be by blood, but I can make an exception because of… Well, how your parents are." She answered.

"I would be happy to go and get him for you, Jasmine." Minerva said.

"Thank you, you can use my fireplace. I normally make it so no one can access it, but I can change that so you and Severus don't have to walk very far." Jasmine said. Minerva nodded and floo'd back to Hogwarts. Jasmine turned to Draco and smiled.

"So, Draco, what exactly made you look into the Animagus ability?" She asked him.

"I've kind of always had a love for animals, really. I guess I felt I have the power in me for this." He answered. Her smile grew and she leant forward on her desk.

"You do indeed have the power, Draco. You also have much more power in you than you realise. I can sense it." She said in a voice that was just above a whisper. He looked at her with widened eyes and a questioning look.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Before she could answer, Minerva and Severus stepped out of the fireplace.

"Draco? What is this about you having the Animagus ability?" Severus asked.

"Exactly that, Severus. I need you to sign this so I can be registered." Draco replied, gesturing towards the piece of paper on Jasmine's desk.

"I did mention, Severus." Minerva said, shaking her head.

"Well, it is a little hard to listen when you have a wolf rubbing against your legs and attempting to lick your face." Jasmine and Draco laughed, and Minerva chuckled a little.

"Anyway, could you sign it, Sev? I want to get back soon." Draco asked. Severus nodded and paused when he read it.

"A white fox, Draco?" He asked. Draco nodded, smiling. Severus picked up the quill and signed his name at the bottom of the paper.

"Excellent. You just have to sign it now, Draco, under his." Draco nodded and signed his name. Jasmine grinned and picked up the paper to put it in a cabinet.

"Alright, you're done! You can all go now, if you like." They nodded and bid their farewells. Draco was the last to go, and was stopped before he floo'd himself back to Hogwarts.

"Don't forget what I said, Draco. I can imagine you will discover it soon, and very soon at that." Draco merely nodded before vanishing in a green flame.

xxx

"Where did you get off to then, Draco?"

Draco found himself in Pansy's room that evening, before either of them went to bed. Blaise was about to join them, but then said he was too tired.

"It's nothing to worry about, Pansy. I think I'll tell all of you, but I'd rather do it when you're all together." She nodded. Draco sighed and leant back against the armchair he was sitting in, going back over Jasmine's words.

'_You also have much more power than you realise' … 'I can imagine you will discover it soon, and very soon at that.'_

What did she mean? And how could she know something like that, anyway? Draco was almost certain that she meant nothing bad by what she said, or was even the slightest bad herself. She certainly didn't have a Dark Mark; she was wearing a sleeveless dress after all. So why was he getting so worked up about it? Was it because he didn't know what this power was? Perhaps how and why he would discover it soon?

"Draco? Are you listening?" He was startled out of his thoughts when Pansy started to shake him slightly.

"Um, yeah? Sorry Pansy, I was in a world of my own then. What did you say?" He asked.

"I can tell! I just asked if you getting stayed behind after Transfiguration earlier had something to do with where you went." She said. _Damn, she catches on fast._ Draco thought to himself.

"Mostly, yes. Don't worry, I will be telling you about it tomorrow." She smiled and then yawned loudly, making Draco chuckle.

"Perhaps you should go to bed, Pansy. You look shattered." He said. She nodded and yawned again. He got up and made his way to the door.

"Night, Draco." She said.

"Goodnight, Pansy." He replied, and closed her door softly. He crossed the corridor to his own room and opened the door. He breathed in slightly, remembering what had happened the last time he was there. _You can't proceed into the future without leaving the past._ He thought to himself. Sometimes, that one thought was the only thing that kept him going. He changed into his nightwear and climbed into bed. He didn't have much luck finding sleep though, and was tossing and turning for a couple of long hours before he sighed and sat up. After a moment of thinking, he got out of the bed and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he walked across the room on four paws instead of two feet. He opened the door further with a nudge of his white muzzle and quietly padded down the hall and down the stairs. He listened for any sound of his classmates, but heard none. He walked across the common room and out into the empty corridor. He turned to climb the stairs leading out of the dungeons, but stopped when he heard voices coming from Professor Snape's room. Curious, Puri walked over to the door and pressed an ear to the door.

"Honestly Moony, I am trying to get to sleep here, but it's a bit hard when you continue to lick my face! You're meant to be a wolf, not a mindless dog for Merlin's sake." He heard Severus groan. Puri smiled as best as he could in his fox form. He hadn't realised that Moony slept in Severus' room. Suddenly feeling a little sociable, he scratched at the door slightly, just loud enough for the brown wolf inside to hear.

"What's up, Moony? Where are you going?" He heard Moony growl slightly and scratch at the door from the other side.

"Really? At this time? Fine, I guess I'll have to leave it open for when you come back. Don't wake me!" Puri backed up into the shadow of the corridor so Severus did not see him when he opened the door to let Moony out. The tired professor closed the door slightly so Moony could get back in and got back into bed. He sniffed and walked into the shadows to find Puri sitting there. The fox jumped up and stood by Moony.

'_Hey there, Moony. Lovely night tonight, isn't it?' _Moony tapped the fox's head with one brown paw in a questioning way, somehow.

'_What are you doing here, Draco? Severus told me that you are an Animagus now.'_

'_I couldn't sleep, so I went to go for a walk and overheard Sev talking to you. Call me Puri, by the way.'_

'_Puri it is, then. Shall we go for a walk together, then? I'm not feeling so tired myself.'_ Puri nodded his white head and they climbed up the stairs together, both keeping watch for anyone in the corridors.

'_Come this way. It is a quick way outside, the night is beautiful at this time.' _Moony said.

'_Alright, let's go._' Puri replied. They both walked outside and sat on a patch of grass, with a gorgeous view of the full moon and the stars.

'_You're right, it is beautiful._' Puri said as he laid down into the grass and stared up at the sky with his large silver eyes. Moony joined his side and rested his head on his paws.

'_I like to come out here whenever there is a full moon. It is the perfect time for me to think, and the night is normally nice for me.' _Moony said.

'_Does it ever get hard for you, Moony? I mean, with you being a werewolf and all.' _Puri asked.

'_It used to. But I am used to it now, really. I am quite lucky compared to other werewolves, actually. A lot of my kind are treated differently to wizards and witches, that's why so many have joined the Dark Lord. But it's different for me. Plus, with Severus' Wolfsbane, I actually don't mind it now. Being a wolf is fun, even though the transformation is painful. I can imagine life gets harder for you at times, Puri.'_

'_I say. I have grown in confidence a lot now, though. At the beginning of the year, I was so scared and upset. I seriously didn't know what to do. But once I became friends with Harry and the others, I felt a lot happier. You would expect me to be worse than ever after what happened the other day, but I am not. I am just angry. I want him to feel the same suffering his has given me most of my life.'_ Both animals were silent for a few moments, before Moony finally spoke.

'_I am very proud of you, Puri. So are your friends, and Minerva, and Severus, of course. Most people would not be able to cope with a fraction of what you have been through, yet here you are, sitting out here and looking towards the future. It's incredible.'_

'_Harry has helped me a lot, especially since I confessed to him. That just boosted my confidence up, really. I have hid my feelings for him for so long, and then he tells me he feels the same way. It was the happiest moment of my life.' _Moony smiled.

'_You are good for each other. In the past I would never believe something like this would happen, but now, I can see that you two are made for each other. I wish you all the best.'_

'_I wish you and Severus all the best, too.' _Moony shook his head, clearly embarrassed.

'_Thank you Puri. I do feel as though I have some love for Severus, but as he is not my mate, I don't feel a huge amount of affection for him…'_

'_Who is your mate, Moony?' _Moony paused and looked away.

'…_Sirius Black.' _Hesaid. Puri looked at him.

'_I am so sorry for asking, Moony.' _He said, feeling guilty. Moony looked back at him and smiled.

'_It's fine Puri, you weren't to know. I do love Severus though, and I will not push that away, even though he is not my mate.'_

'_That's good. You have made him happier, Moony. He has never been like this before.'_

'_That's because he last love left him.' _Puri tilted his head.

'_Last love?' _He asked.

'_It is personal for him, I'd rather him tell you himself. But anyway, it's not just me who has made him happier recently. It's also you. He told me he has always noticed something with you, and that something wasn't quite right between you and Lucius. But now you are happier yourself and have found someone you love, even if it is Harry, it makes him happier too.'_

'_I didn't know that. Thank you for telling me.'_

'_It's fine, Puri.' _The fox yawned and put his head down onto his paws. Moony yawned as well.

'_Perhaps we should be getting back, now. We are both tired.' _Puri nodded and they both walked back to the Slytherin dungeons. Once they made it to outside Severus' room, Moony turned to Puri.

'_We should do this again next month.'_ He said. Puri nodded, and Moony smiled and walked into the room. Puri turned around and headed back to the common room. The portrait yawned and looked down at Puri.

"Oh, it's you. Come on in." The man said in a tired voice. Puri made his way up the stairs and into his room, where he turned back into his human form and collapsed on the bed. Smiling, he drifted off to sleep with the images of a moon lit sky and a lovely raven-haired Gryffindor in his mind.

xxx

Do foxes smile? Meh, they do now if they don't.

I'm sorry if this chapter is a boring. But it had to be included, really. I love Jasmine xD Thanks to all of you who reviewed! Please review, it is literally a click of that little button over there and just a few words… They keep me motivated xD

Thanks for reading, and keep continuing to do so! :D


	14. Lucius' Crime

Hello, fellow readers and writers! Here is a new chapter, naturally. Because I got some lovely reviews, here is a bit of a longer chapter. Want the same next time? Sure, all you have to do is REVIEW! :D :D

Before the chapter, here is the reply to Natalie Neko! – I was aiming for a bit of a softer chapter, haha. I can't have it all dark! I'm glad you enjoyed the talk between Puri and Moony, I loved writing that part. I am a bit of a wild animal enthusiast myself! xD Wolves and foxes are my favourite animal. :3 I felt a little bad for Sirius while writing the Snupin scene myself, because I absolutely love Remus/Sirius, which will be included in my next story (yes, I am already planning it). And you are welcome for me replying! Here you are again. I am glad you are enjoying translating this, and I hope you continue to do so. I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Now that has been done, enjoy chapter seven!

oOo

"Draco? Hello? Wake up!"

Draco groaned and clutched at his covers. He didn't want to get up, surely he had not been asleep long enough to do so…

"DRACO, GET UP GODDAMNIT!" He was startled out of his sleepy state by Pansy shaking him roughly. He pushed her off and got out of bed.

"God Pansy, something gentler would have been nice…" He said.

"I did try! Come on, we've overslept. Breakfast is in five minutes!" She said. Draco quickly grabbed his robes and ran to the bathroom to get ready. Only a few minutes later he was out of there, fully changed.

"Wow, okay. You certainly get ready a lot quicker than you used to. Alright, we better get going." Draco nodded and they walked out of his room and down the flights of stairs to their common room. Blaise was down there waiting for them, looking a little impatient.

"What took you two so long?" Blaise asked.

"Sorry babe, we overslept." Pansy said, giving her boyfriend a kiss. Right on cue, Draco yawned loudly. They both looked at him, appearing slightly annoyed.

"What? You and Harry are worse." Blaise said. Draco looked at him, confused.

"What are you talking about, I'm shattered!" They shook their heads at him. "…Oh. Bad timing. Sorry, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." They just grinned at him as they made their way through the dungeons, up the stairs and through the corridors to the Great Hall. Their Gryffindor friends waved at them as they made their way over to their table. Draco noticed that none of the other Gryffindors gave them a second glance as they walked by them, and chuckled at how they had gotten used to having three Slytherins sitting by them.

"What's so funny, Draco?" Harry asked after he had given him a quick kiss.

"I was just thinking about how the rest of your house doesn't really acknowledge me, Pansy and Blaise sitting here anymore. In fact, no one really seems to be shocked by us going out either. At first I noticed that a few people were staring at us, but now they have just seemed to have accepted it." He said thoughtfully.

"I am glad they have. I thought they never will. We do still have some girls giggling about it though, for some reason. " Harry said. He and Draco looked at the others, and saw that Hermione and Pansy were exchanging glances and ginning.

"What is it?" Draco questioned. Hermione sighed and shook her head, but was still grinning. Pansy did the same.

"Don't tell me you don't honestly get it. Especially you, Harry." She asked. Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Get what? I am so confused." Harry said. They both laughed.

"You two are literally perfect for each other, Harry. Think about it; the contrasts between you, the similarities, the understanding. How you've got opposite writing hands so you can hold hands while do your work…" Harry and Draco both roll their eyes, but Hermione ignores them. "Not to mention the trust you have in each other… It is so sweet!" She finished with a deep dreamy sigh. Pansy did the same.

"Well, I guess that confirms the acceptance, but not the squealing and giggling girls." Draco said, with Harry nodding in agreement. Hermione and Pansy both sigh and shake their heads.

"Honestly, you too are hopeless. You are _hot_, seriously. Like, I was interested in you before you told me you're gay. _Obviously _you are going to get fan girls!" Pansy said, and both she and Hermione laughed at the two boys who blushed and looked away from them. Blaise and Ron both coughed at the same time.

"Ahem Pansy, you have a boyfriend right here." Blaise said.

"Yes, same to you Hermione." Ron added.

"Oh, sorry boys." The two girls both said and planted a kiss on their boyfriends' lips. Draco grinned and planted his own kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

"Off to your first lesson, everyone." The three couples broke apart at the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice echoing around the hall. They sighed and picked up their bags, but then Draco grinned. Harry looked at him curiously.

"What's making you so happy, Draco?" He asked. Draco looked at him as if he were mental.

"We have Care of Magical Creatures then Potions! What could possibly be better?!" Harry laughed and shook his head at Draco's enthusiasm. He didn't know how one could be excited for Potions, but as long as his boyfriend was in a good mood, he didn't care what lesson they had.

"I really should have chosen Care of Magical Creatures. I am not a huge fan of Herbology." Blaise sighed. Pansy sighed too.

"Same here. At least we are together." She said with a wink.

xxx

"Hello, everyone. I got a real treat for yer all today." Hagrid said to his class. Ron grinned at Draco.

"Last time you said that Hagrid, Draco got attacked by a hippogriff." The class laughed, including Draco.

"At least the last time I came across a hippogriff, I rode it." He said with a shrug.

"Anyway, come along now." He said, leading them through the forest.

"I hope it's not another hippogriff. As much as I like them, I want to see something else really." Draco said. Harry squeezed the hand his was holding and grinned up at him.

"Don't worry about it Malfoy, I am pretty certain you will like this most of all. And… We are here!" All of the students gasped at, what looked like, a teenage dragon standing proudly by Charlie Weasley.

"Charlie!" Ron exclaimed. His older brother laughed and came forward to give him a hug. The dragon stayed where it was, clearly adoring the attention.

"Hagrid, how in the name of Salazar were you allowed to show us a dragon?" Draco asked, staring up at the magnificent creature admiringly.

"Well, Charlie here has come back from Romania for a little break. Due to his hard work and effort, he was allowed to bring a younger dragon home. Me and him had a talk with ol' McGonagall, and here she is!" Hagrid announced. The students stared at wonder at the dragon.

"What's her name?" Hermione asked.

"Norberta. Previously known as Norbert." He said with a wink at her, Ron and Harry. They widened their eyes at the dragon. "It turns out she was a girl, so she was renamed Norberta."

"Wow, she has grown so much…" Harry said in awe at the beautiful creature. The dragon let out a slight roar and rubbed up against Charlie, who laughed and stroked the scales.

"Who wants to stroke her?" He asked, looking around at the students. The majority of the class looked a little nervous, except for one, who had a look of obvious excitement on his face.

"Come on then, Malfoy. Don't come over too quickly, you may startle her." Charlie said, gesturing for him to come over. He nodded and slowly made his way towards Norberta. The said dragon looked at Draco, curious.

"Don't worry girl, he won't hurt you." Charlie reassured her, while he stroked her. She rubbed her head gently against her master and then turned to Draco. She stepped forward to the Slytherin. The class gasped and were suddenly concerned for Draco's safety, but he did not even flinch. Instead, he smiled at the dragon stood before him.

"Aren't you beautiful?" He murmured as he reached out to pet her. She lowered her head so he could reach her neck easily. The smile which he had on his face grew wider at the dragon's friendliness. Norberta saw the smile, laid down beside him and looked up at him eagerly.

"She wants you to ride him, Malfoy." Hagrid said. Draco looked at him, and then at Charlie, who nodded.

"She does. You can if you want to, Malfoy. She is very careful." He said.

"Of course I want to." Draco said with joy. His friends smiled at him, clearly happy for him. Norberta let out a small growl of happiness and laid closer to the ground. Hagrid walked over to help Draco onto the dragon. Once he was safely balanced on her, she got up slowly. Draco steadied himself, shocked at how much larger Norberta seemed once you were on her back. She looked at Charlie in a questioning way. He looked up at Draco.

"Are you ready?" He asked. Draco nodded and tightened his hold slightly around Norberta's neck. Charlie smiled at her and nodded at her to tell her she was alright to go. Slowly, knowing Draco had never rode a dragon before, she flapped her wings and raised them into the air. Once they were at an altitude higher than the trees in the forest, she roared and flew forward. Draco's eyes widened as they soared through the air. His grin was one of the widest he had ever had. Riding a hippogriff is one thing, especially with your arms wrapped around your crush, but riding on a dragon was a completely different thing entirely. He loved every moment of it. Norberta flew around the castle grounds, earning a few shocked looks from a few classes who saw them through their windows. Draco laughed as he felt the wind blow against his face. They flew across the grounds for a couple more minutes before Norberta flew back to the class. She landed on the ground and laid down so Draco could dismount. His hair was wild and messy, but the huge smile on his face showed that he did not care one bit for his hair, for the first time ever. He walked over to his friends, still smiling widely.

"That was amazing. Seriously, it was just incredible. I am definitely never forgetting that moment." He said.

"Alright, anyone else want to?" Charlie asked. The class started chattering excitedly, but stopped when Hagrid suddenly looked disappointed.

"We can't, it is time for them to get to their next lessons, Charlie." The students moaned. "I know. Tell yer what, if Charlie can get down here again, we can continue."

"I would be more than happy to do that." Charlie said. The class sighed in relief at regaining their chance of riding a dragon. He waved to the students as he mounted Norberta and flew out of the forest.

"Come along, all of yer." Hagrid said, leading him out of the forest. A few minutes later, Draco touched his hair, looking panicked.

"Oh my sweet Merlin. It feels dreadful." He said, quickly grabbing a hairbrush out of his bag to fix it. Harry laughed and shook his head, putting his arm around his boyfriend. This was just one of the reasons why Harry loved him.

xxx

"Today, we are going to be brewing the Oculus potion. Can anyone tell me what it is exactly?" Professor Snape asked his classroom. _I am sure I recognise that from somewhere…_ Harry thought.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" He said.

"It is the counteract for the _Conjunctivitis_ curse." She replied.

"Correct, Miss Granger." He paused at then looked thoughtful for a moment. "Five points to Gryffindor." The class gasped. It was only five points, but it was points all the same. Hermione stared at him, with the most shocked look on her face for the teacher who had supposedly hated her over the last years.

"I'd rather you not all stare at me." He scowled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Anyway. I have added an extra ingredient, which I mixed in with your ground unicorn horn to make a slight change to the syllabus. Before you ask, no, we did not kill the unicorn. As I was saying, this ingredient I added will not only counteract the _Conjunctivitis_ curse, but also cure the taker's eyesight completely. I am fine with all of you to keep some of the potion after you have completed it, IF you have made it perfectly. The instructions are on page 35." He said, and looked at Harry for a moment before he waved at them to start and sat down at his desk to complete some marking.

"You don't think he actually…" Harry started, but stopped when Severus looked up at him.

"I would start if I were you, Mister Potter, if you and Mister Malfoy have any chance of completing this potion perfectly." He said, and when back to the papers in front of him. Harry and Draco shook their heads in disbelief and grinned at each other. Draco started to set up the cauldron and the equipment while Harry collected the ingredients they needed. Once they had everything ready, Harry turned to Draco with a slight smirk.

"So… I am not the best at Potions, you are, and I really want to get rid of these glasses..."

"Yes, I shall do most of the work." Draco finished for him. "Not ALL though. Come on, Potions waits for no wizard." Harry rolled his eyes.

"It's true. Anyway, I'll need you to stir in a minute." Draco said after he shook the vial containing the ingredient. He carefully added the horn until the potion turned to an orange colour.

"Alright, stir it until it turns purple." He ordered. Harry nodded and stirred the potion. He stopped when the orange had changed to the vibrant purple. Draco grabbed a vial of crystalized water and slowly poured it in until the purple had turned red.

"Alright, we just have to wait a couple of minutes until it turns yellow." Draco said. Harry stared at him.

"I just realised, you didn't even look at the textbook!" Harry exclaimed, pointing to his closed book. Draco shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

"What can I say, I am good at potions." He said simply. Harry shook his head and grinned. He turned back to the potion, which was now settled as a bright yellow.

"Could you pass me the stewed mandrake, please?" Draco asked. Harry nodded and passed him the container. Draco thanked him and added the mandrake until the potion turned turquoise.

"Wow, this potion definitely is colourful." Harry chuckled. Draco grinned as he grabbed the ground unicorn horn again and added it until the turquoise changed to a subtle pink.

"It's your job again, my marvellous stirrer." Draco said, bowing dramatically. Harry laughed and stirred the potion. He stopped when Draco told him to do so, which was when the potion was once again an orange colour. Draco first added the wormwood until the potion turned green, secondly added the crystalized water again until it turned turquoise once more, and then the mandrake again until the potion turned indigo. He turned back to Harry, who had been watching the process.

"Go on, then. Until it's orange again, by the way." Draco said, gesturing at him to stir. Harry smiled and stirred the potion as he was told.

"Right, we're almost done. Just let it heat again for a minute or two, and then we can add the wormwood once more. It would be finished then." Draco said as he sat down for a minute.

"Are you sure you've been doing the steps precisely, Draco? Everyone else seems further behind than us…" Harry said. Draco chuckled.

"Yes, I am sure. They are further behind because their skills aren't even close to my superior ability. Check if you wish." He said with a smirk. Harry rolled his eyes, but couldn't help smirk back at his boyfriend. He opened up his textbook and found that Draco had indeed been following the steps correctly.

"Told you so." Draco said with a wink.

"Show off. Hey, it's purple again." Harry said, nodding at the potion. Sure enough, it was back to the vibrant purple once more. Draco got up out of the chair, then shook and added the wormwood once more until the potion turned back to the common orange.

"There we are, it's done." Draco announced a little loudly. The class looked over at the pair. Hermione had a look of shock on her face.

'_How?_' She mouthed to Harry.

'_It's Draco.' _He mouthed back to her simply. He looked back at Draco to find him looking at Severus, who had come over while he wasn't looking.

"It's perfect. Of course, that does not surprise me. Ten points to the both of you. Actually, only five to Gryffindor because Mister Malfoy did most of the work." He said, smirking. Draco laughed, and even Harry had to chuckle himself.

"Feel free to take some of this. You won't need it all though, plus I need it for your marks anyway." Severus said. He turned around, shouted at Neville for doing something wrong to his and his partner's potion, and then went back to his desk. Draco carefully filled a vial of the orange potion and passed it to Harry.

"Here you go." He said. Harry thanked him and looked at Severus for permission. When he earned the Potion Master's nod of approval, he drank the potion. He shuddered at the vile taste, but made sure he downed every drop of the orange liquid. He looked at Draco, who nodded at his glasses. Harry smiled and slowly took the glasses off. His face lit up, and blinked several times.

"Oh my God, this is amazing." He whispered. Draco hugged him, and looked into the frameless green eyes.

"They are even more beautiful without the glass in the way." He murmured and gently gave Harry a kiss. They were interrupted by a cough by Severus, and realised that the whole of the class was staring at them.

"If you all don't mind, it is actually time for lunch now. I hope you've all finished. If not, I guess you'll have to do it next lesson. Mister Longbottom, you have detention with me for almost blowing up that cauldron." Severus said, and dismissed the rest of them with a wave of his hand. The students packed their bags. Pansy, Blaise, Ron and Hermione rushed over to Draco and Harry. They all looked at a now glass-free Harry.

"Wow, you look so much better without your glasses! No offence, Harry, to how you looked before." Pansy said. The rest nodded in agreement.

"Mister Malfoy, Mister Potter? Can I have a word with you before you go, please?" Severus called to them before they went. They nodded and gestured for their friends to go on without them.

"What is it, Sev?" Draco asked once everyone was out of the room.

"Well, I guess this concerns both of you. You don't really need to be here, Draco, but considering you are my godson I think you should hear this." He turned and looked at Harry.

"Harry, I am sorry that I have been a… Whatever you want to call it to you these previous years. I had a grudge against you simply because of my hate for your father I had back in high school. But, it isn't always 'like father, like son', as we can tell from Draco here. So I am sorry."

Harry and Draco both stared at him with obvious shock. They looked like that for a couple of moments before Harry snapped out of it.

"Thank you, sir. I appreciate it." He said with a curt nod.

"Do you mind me asking why exactly you hated his father, Severus?" Draco asked cautiously.

"Harry here knows one reason why. He and his friends had a tendency to bully me in high school. But it's also because… I was in love with Lily." Both of their eyes widen.

"Oh…" Harry said simply.

"You may go. I do not wish to continue this." Severus dismissed them with. They both nodded and walked to the door silently.

"Oh, and Harry?" Severus called as they were near the door. They both turned back to the professor.

"Yes, professor?" Harry replied.

"You have your mother's eyes." He said simply, and then started to neaten up some papers. Harry simply smiled at him, and then walked out of the room with Draco. That line seemed to have a lot more meaning coming from Severus.

xxx

The friends were just finished with their dinner when Professor McGonagall had rushed over to them in a hurry with a concerned expression on her face.

"What's the matter, Professor?" Hermione asked as they looked up at their headmistress.

"It would easier to show you. This mainly concerns Blaise and Draco, but you are all free to come if you wish to do so." She said. Hermione, Ron, Harry and Pansy nodded to show they'd go too and they followed Minerva out of the Great Hall. They had to walk quite fast to keep up with her long and quick strides down the corridor.

"Where exactly are we going, Professor?" Blaise asked, slightly out of breath.

"To the hospital wing." She said. The friends looked at each other, but did not say anything else as she seemed quite panicked. Thanks to their quick pace, they made it to the infirmary in a matter of minutes.

"Oh thank heavens, Minerva! Come in, all of you." Madam Pomfrey said. They entered the room, and Blaise gasped when he saw a figure in the bed.

"Mum?! Salazar, what happened?! He said, rushing over to the bed. Blaise's father and Kingsley stood by the bed.

"I will be fine, darling, don't worry." She said, slightly weakly. She had a bruise going round her eye, what looked like a broken nose, and her arm was in a sling.

"Son, why don't you sit down? You too." Cais Zabini said, nodding towards him and his friends. They did as they were told and sat down. Kingsley stepped towards them, smiling sadly.

"I'm afraid that Lucius attacked the Zabini household. Luckily, they managed to escape, but as you can see…" He gestured towards Blaise's mother in the bed.

"But, I also have worse news too…" He said, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable. He turned to Draco. "Draco, somehow, Lucius managed to break into Azkaban and took your mother. We have no idea of their location or what exactly he wants to do with her."

Draco stared at him with wide eyes. He put his head in his hands and shook his head.

"No, no, no… I don't want him to hurt her too…"

oOo

Dun dun dun, DRAMA! I was feeling like this needed a little more Drama after writing a soft chapter so… Yeah. Came up with this idea. I also had no plans of there being a dragon in the Care of Magical Creatures class, but I wanted something… Who knows, maybe Norberta will make another appearance sometime in the story. *Shrugs*

Anyway, after starting to read a Draco/Harry story called Two Moons, I decided to start including a little question you may wish to answer in your reviews! I don't want to seem like I am copying them, I just want to see what you all answer with. So, the first question I think will be…

_**Why do you like/ship Drarry?**_

I am just curious, really. You must do, considering you are reading this. EMBRACE ME WITH YOUR FEELS! My answer to the question will be at the end of the next chapter. Here is another reason for you to review! R.E.V.I.E.W! :D (Please.)

Sayonara, my lovely Potterheads! :D


	15. Draco's New Ability

Hello there! Here is another chapter. Obviously. It's the longest one yet (I think), so yay! Yet not a lot happens really… Oh well. More softness await later on. Don't worry; more action will happen soon, trust me. I just want to say thank you for all of the reviews! They make me very happy. I like reading them, and I reply. HINTING HINTS HERE.

Ahem. Enjoy the chapter, my lovely readers!

oOo

"_No, no, no… I don't want him to hurt her too…"_

After saying those words, Draco had suddenly started crying hysterically, and was knelt on the floor where Harry held him to try and comfort the blonde. He was trembling and his body also shook from the sobs that escaped the poor boy's lips. He understood why the Slytherin would be so upset, but it was still hard for him, for a_ll _of them, to see him in that state.

"It'll be alright, Draco, she'll be fine…" Harry said softly into his boyfriend's ear.

"How can you believe that, Harry? You've seen what he has done to me. He almost _killed _me, for Merlin's sake! I was minutes away from death! How will she be fine?!" The boy cried in between sobs.

"Draco, we will do all we can…" Kingsley started, but stopped when Draco turned from Harry to him quickly.

"You did "all you could" with me, yet I was still in fucking chains for almost 24 hours." Draco said coldly as tears ran down his face.

"Draco!" Minerva scolded. Draco sighed and looked away, guilt showing in his silver eyes.

"I am sorry, I know you try your best. I am just so scared…" He whispered as new tears started to develop in his eyes.

"We understand, Draco." Harry replied quietly as he gently wiped away the glistening tears and gave him a delicate and comforting kiss. He got up off the floor and reached a hand out for Draco to help him up. Draco accepted the hand and looked slightly embarrassed about his breakdown.

"I thought you hated her though, Draco." Ron stated, but put a hand over his straight away, looking immediately regretful. Draco just smiled sadly.

"I did, but I thought things through. I accused her of not being there for me, which was partly true. But she was last year, which I was blind enough not to notice. While Lucius was in Azkaban she was worried sick for me. She was scared of me having the mark and even more so of my task. She did everything she could to try and help me with it, and even made an unbreakable vow to Severus so that he would do everything in his power to protect me. I have come to forgive her, so I don't want my last words to her to be that I don't think I ever could." His voice shook slightly as he spoke his last sentence.

"I am sure they won't be, Draco." Pansy said comfortably, as she gave him a hug. He hugged her back, but still looked a little doubtful. That was until Hermione piped up.

"I am certain that she will survive this, Draco. Lucius wouldn't go through all of the trouble of breaking her out of Azkaban to murder her, not so soon at the very least. He has probably done this partly out of revenge for her turning her back on him, but I can imagine it's mostly to try and get to you and to play mind games with you." She said. Draco blinked at her.

"You couldn't be more right, Hermione. That's helped me a lot. Thank you." He said to her and gave her a hug, which she returned.

"You worried me there for a minute, Draco. I never have seen you like that before." Blaise said, as his father by his side nodded in agreement. Draco smiled slightly and clapped his hands together, suddenly looking determined. _I won't let him beat me again._

"Alright, we need a plan to beat Lucius at his own game. First of all, I need that headache potion. _Accio potion!" _He said, and caught the potion. He unscrewed the top to drink it, but stopped when he saw everyone staring at him with wide eyes.

"What? What did I do?" He asked, confused.

"Draco, you just…" Harry started.

"Did what? Cast a simple spell?"

"Draco, look at your hands." Pansy said. He looked down at his hands, one holding the potion, one holding the top.

"Yes, what about them? I am just holding the potion and the…" He stopped when he realised what was missing from his hands. He put the potion down on an end table by him, and reached into his robes. He pulled out his wand, and his eyes widened at what he just did. "Holy shit. I didn't use my wand, did I?"

"This is just something you have come across now?" Minerva asked astonishingly. Draco nodded.

"Uh, yes. I literally just did this without thinking about it." He replied, and put away his wand. He stared at his hands as if they held the key to all the power in the world.

"That is bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed.

"What, may I ask, is so brilliant?" A monotone voice said by the entrance.

"Severus, it is so good to see you." Cais Zabini said to the Potions Master, and smiled.

"Same to you. I am sorry to what has happened to you, Melanie." He said to the woman in the bed. (**A/N: **I have no idea what her name is, so in this her name is Melanie and she hasn't had several husbands. Melanie Zabini has a certain ring to it.)

"I am fine, Severus. It could be a lot worse." She said, smiling at the professor.

"Anyway, like I asked, what is so brilliant?" He asked again to Ron. Draco coughed and he looked over at the Slytherin. Draco smiled and looked over at the potion.

"_Accio potion." _He said, and his smile grew when the potion flew over into his hand. This time, he drank the potion. He laughed at the look of shock on his godfather's face. The said man shook his head and smirked slightly.

"Anything else, Draco? One minute I need to sign for you to be registered as an Animagus, next you can perform wandless magic!" He exclaimed. Draco's friends gasp.

"An Animagus, Draco?" Pansy squealed.

"Why didn't you tell us, Draco?" Harry asked.

"It completely slipped my mind…" Draco said with a shrug.

"What form is it, Draco?" Blaise asked.

"A white fox." He replied with a grin. Pansy squealed again, while Hermione and Ron still stood there shocked.

"So let me get this straight. You can speak Parseltongue, you have an Animagus form, _and _you can perform wandless magic?! Seriously Draco." Harry exclaimed. Draco chuckled when gasps went round the room again.

"You can speak Parseltongue?" Hermione asked, looking even more shocked.

"Yes, I can speak Parseltongue." Draco laughed.

"So that means… You understood Harry in that duelling club way back in second year?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, he was telling it not to attack. I was surprised that I am not the only one who has the ability. I found it fascinating." He said, grinning at the memory of him being shocked at his rival's ability, but luckily he blended in well with all the rest of the room.

"I think I need to sit down, Draco." Severus said as he took a seat and sighed deeply into his hands.

"Anyway, like I said, we need to think of something to help my mother." Draco said slightly impatiently.

"We can't tonight, Draco. It is much too late, and Moody is back from his trip tomorrow. It is more sensible to wait until then." Kingsley said. Draco sighed, but he did see sense in the man's words. Harry looked slightly confused.

"Trip? What trip?" He asked.

"He was capturing death eaters who were outside of the UK and were attacking civilians. A couple of Aurors went with him, including Tonks." He explained. Hermione smiled at the mention of Tonks.

"It will be nice to see her again. I remember Ginny being highly fond of her." She said.

"It was also nice seeing Ginny's gaze away from Harry for once." Ron added. Harry chuckled, and Hermione shook her head, but couldn't stop a slight grin forming on her face.

"Anyway, you all better get to your rooms now. It is almost curfew." Professor McGonagall said. The students all got up from their seats. Their eyes turned to Severus, who had not budged.

"Aren't you coming, Sev?" Draco asked. His godfather shook his head.

"Me and Minerva need to discuss to Cais and Melanie about where they'll be staying here." Blaise looked at his mother and father questioningly.

"Staying? You are staying here?" He asked.

"Yes, dear. It is too risky for us to be out there in the open. They think Hogwarts is the safest place we can be." Melanie explained. Blaise nodded in understanding. He gave Cais a hug first, then gently put his arms around his mother to say goodbye. Draco grinned and walked over to Severus to give him a hug. To Harry's surprise, the man hugged him back happily, but then he realised that the professor probably was more of a father to Draco than Lucius ever was.

"See you later, Sev." He said after they broke apart.

"Goodnight, Draco. Sleep well." He replied. The friends exited the infirmary and bumped into Remus Lupin in the corridor.

"I heard what happened. Is Melanie alright?" The concerned professor asked.

"Mum is alright, sir. She is obviously hurt, but it is not as bad as it could have been." Blaise explained. Remus sighed in relief.

"Is Severus in there too?" He asked. Draco nodded. He grinned and winked at the Professor, who blushed slightly.

"Don't start with that one now, _Puri._" Remus said with a smirk.

"Fine, _Moony. _Shall I wait until next month?" Remus chuckled at the words.

"If you really must. Anyway, you lot better get going." He waved at the students and entered the hospital wing. Draco's friends looked at him with curiosity, apart from Hermione, who just smiled.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked. Blaise, Ron and Pansy nodded to show their questioning. Hermione sighed and shook her head smirking. Both her and Draco walked on ahead, and the others ran up to catch up. Hermione turned to her friends.

"Is it not obvious? If they were using Remus' nickname, talking about next month and using another nickname, clearly Draco's, what would they be saying?" They looked thoughtful for a minute, and then Harry and Pansy suddenly smiled.

"There we are, they've got it." Draco laughed.

"I still don't get it." Ron mumbled. Hermione giggled and put her arm around her boyfriend.

"Puri is Draco's Animagus nickname. He and Remus, well, _Moony _must have had a talk on one of the nights of the full moon, I can imagine last night." She explained to him.

"Oh, of course." Ron said with a slight chuckle. Blaise also chuckled, and slipped his hand into Pansy's. She smiled and squeezed the hand holding hers. Soon enough, far too soon for any of them, they had made it to the stairs which led down into the Slytherin dungeons. Draco pulled Harry gently to him and kissed him on his lips. Harry returned the kiss before they reluctantly pulled away after a quick cough from Ron. The Gryffindors and Slytherins said their goodbyes and headed to their separate common rooms.

xxx

Around the early hours of the morning, Draco sighed after he had turned over for the umpteenth time in his bed. As tired as he was every morning, he was never tired enough when it came to sleeping that night. He sat up and went to reach for his wand on his bedside table, but grinned when he realised it was not needed.

"_Lumos." _He whispered gently. His eyes lit up when a bright light appeared in his hand. They shone in a light similar to the shine of a diamond, from both the light in his palm and the happiness from his newly discovered ability. He moved his hand to the space by his clock, which read '1:45'.

"_Nox." _He said with a sigh, and watched the light go down, leaving the room in darkness. He waved his hand out to turn on the main light, like he would with his wand, and smirked. _I could get used to this._ He thought to himself. He then tilted his head as he remembered Jasmine's words. Was this the great power she had mentioned? Or was there more to this? He definitely knew that dwelling on these thoughts would not help him sleep. He got out of the bed, deciding to take a walk like he did the previous night to tire himself out. He walked over to his doorway, waved his hand once more to turn off the light, and walked down the hallway on four paws rather than two feet. He walked out of the Slytherin common room and climbed up the stairs leading out of the dungeons. He started to make his way to the exit which Moony had shown him that previous evening, only to come face to face with Mrs Norris. He froze and stared at the cat as it hissed at him.

"What is it, Mrs Norris? One of those Slytherins?" He heard Filch say a little further down the corridor. Puri quickly yet quietly moved into the shadows of the corridor and crept pass the caretaker slowly, with unblinking eyes staring at him all the while. Mrs Norris hissed at the shadows which Puri was hidden in.

"What's hidden in there?" Filch asked his cat. He hovered the lantern by the shadows of the corridor to find a white fox staring up at him with huge grey eyes. Puri quickly ran away from the caretaker and his pet before he could even hear his reaction. He didn't stop running until he had made it to the exit. He slowed down to a normal walked pace and made his way to the spot he remembered. He looked up at the clear night sky, lit up by the moon and thousands of stars. He laid down into the grass and laid his head down onto his two white paws and blinked up at the beautiful sight above him, knowing he would never get bored of this view. He thought over the situation involving his parents, and decided that no matter what, he would save his mother from the beast known as his father.

_Meanwhile…_

Harry could not sleep.

For the last few nights after they had rescued Draco, and even before what had happened, he had been getting used to normal hours of rest, and had been grateful. But on this night, he could not get the image of a hysterical Draco out of his mind. He seemed fine after, especially once he had discovered his ability of wandless magic, but it still haunted his thoughts. He had seen the Slytherin cry before, of course, but it hadn't been the same as that evening. Deciding that he would not be sleeping for at least a few hours, he sat up to reach for his glasses out of instinct, but grinned when he realised that his eyes were now cured thanks to his boyfriend's godfather. He instead grabbed his wand to turn on his light, and averted his gaze to the clock on his bedside table. It read '2:03'. He sat up in the red covers and reached out for his Marauders Map, which was also placed on the table. He didn't like to think it was strange for him to like looking at it sometimes randomly, after all, he wouldn't have known Lucius had managed to get into Hogwarts if it wasn't for this. He frowned and shook his head to try and vanish the memory of that horrid night.

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." _He said as he placed his wand on the map. He watched as the illustrations formed on the paper, and looked around the map. He grinned when he saw Filch seemingly searching for something, or more likely, _someone _near the Slytherin dungeons. He tilted his head in curiosity when he saw the name Draco Malfoy just outside the castle. Deciding that he was not going to be sleeping anytime soon, he reached into his trunk to get his invisibility cloak and wrapped it around himself. He made his way through the corridors to an exit close by to Draco from the help of the map, and kept his eyes out for Filch. He eventually made it to the exit, and pulled out his wand.

"_Mischief managed." _He said in a very quiet whisper. He made his way outside, and his eyes searched for the unmistakable head of platinum blonde hair.

"Draco? Are you out here?" He called softly. That was when he saw the most beautiful animal he had ever seen resting in the grass. It was a white fox, which was looking up at him with the most gorgeous grey eyes. _They're almost like… Hang on…_ It suddenly came to him, and he grinned.

"Hello there, Puri." He chuckled. Puri strolled up to Harry and licked his hand before transforming back into his human form.

"Good evening, Harry. What brings you out here?" Draco asked softly after taking his boyfriend's hands.

"I couldn't sleep, and I saw you were out here. You?"

"Same here. Well, I couldn't get sleep anyway, I mean." He looked at him slightly puzzled. "What do you mean, you saw me out here? How?" He asked. Harry smirked.

"From this." He said, as he pulled out the map. Draco stared down at it, still puzzled.

"You saw I was out here by a blank piece of paper?" He said slowly, and Harry couldn't help but laugh. He pulled out his wand from his pocket.

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_ He said, and smiled at Draco's surprise face as the ink formed on the once blank paper.

"The Marauder's map?" He said. He looked at the names on the top of the map. "Wormtail? He helped make this? As well as Moony?" He asked. He read the other two names curiously. "Who were Padfoot and Prongs?"

"My dad and Sirius." He said, smiling sadly. Draco rubbed his hand comfortingly, and he opened up the map to reveal the illustration of Hogwarts.

"This has everyone's names on!" He exclaimed, and laughed when he pointed at the names Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy by each other.

"Yes, it shows where everyone is all the time." He explained.

"Where did you get this?" Draco asked.

"From Fred and George Weasley. They stole it from Filch in their first year." He answered.

"The twins?" Harry nodded and Draco grinned. "Seems like the sort of thing they would like to steal. I am most certainly glad Filch doesn't have it anymore." Harry laughed at this.

"So how do you make it blank again?" Draco asked.

"By saying '_Mischief managed'. _With your wand, of course, unless you're you." Harry said with a wink. Draco chuckled and placed one pale finger onto the map.

"_Mischief managed."_ He said, and they both watched the illustrations fade away. Draco's smile grew. "That is awesome."

"I know, I was amazed when Fred and George showed me." Harry said. Draco once again took his hand and tugged him slightly in the direction of his new favourite spot.

"Come on, it's really nice here." Draco said softly. He sat down in the grass, while Harry just stared.

"The thought of the proud Draco Malfoy sitting willingly on the outside floor never once came to me." He said. Draco smirked up at him.

"So the thought of being in a relationship with him did?" Draco pulled him down onto the grass next to him and laughed when the raven haired teen fell onto him. Harry attempted to give him death glare as he sat up, but couldn't help chuckling at an amused Draco.

"I told you it is nice." Draco said, pointing to the gorgeous view of the black lake and the sky. Harry looked away from the Slytherin to see the view Draco was pointing out to him. He gasped at the landscape before him. It really was beautiful.

"This is breath taking, Draco." Harry breathed, staring at the natural wonder before him.

"Remus showed me. Well, Moony did. He told me that he comes out here every full moon."

"What did you two talk about?"

"A few things. He mentioned that he was proud of me, which was nice to hear. He said that he thought I am good for you, and also said about how he and Sev like each other a lot, but Sev may never love him as much as he loved Lily, and Remus…" He paused, and Harry looked at him.

"Remus?"

"He said that he could never see Sev as his true love, or most likely not anyway, because… His mate was Sirius Black." He said.

"Sirius was his mate?" Harry asked in shock. Draco nodded. "Wow. I never knew that." They stayed silent for a few minutes as they simply took in the beautiful sight in front of them. Draco broke the silence with a sigh as he rested his head on Harry's shoulder.

"I am going to find her, Harry." He said as he looked up into Harry's green eyes.

"I know you will."

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"No. I honestly believe it."

"Thank you. I am not letting that bastard of a father hurt her like he hurt me." They were silent like that for a few minutes before Draco rose up from the floor and reached out a hand for Harry to take. Harry took the offered hand and thanked him.

"We better get going, if we have any chance of surviving the day tomorrow." Draco said. Harry reached out for his invisibility cloak he had left behind them and put it around them both. He pulled out his Marauder's Map, and gestured to Draco to cast the spell.

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_ He grinned as the pictures formed. "I still find that incredibly awesome."

The made their way through the empty corridors, eyes glued to the map to make sure that they would not bump into Filch on the way. Draco looked at the Slytherin dungeons to see if Filch was around there. He wasn't, but something else caught his eye.

"Harry, look." He whispered, pointing at Severus' room. His and Remus' name were both in the room, both very still. Harry chuckled slightly.

"Isn't that lovely." Draco laughed at Harry's words. Soon enough, they had made it to the staircase leading to the dungeons. Draco sighed and turned to Harry under the cloak.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." He said.

"Yes, you sure will be." Harry said. He suddenly (somehow gently) pushed Draco against the wall nearby and placed his lips on Draco's. The blonde closed his eyes and kissed him back passionately. He pulled away for a second to look into Harry's eyes for a second. Eyes which just made him happier, eyes which were full of love.

"Harry, I love you." Draco whispered.

"I love you too, Draco." Harry whispered back. Draco pulled him closer for another last kiss before they both realised they had to go.

"Goodbye, Draco." Harry said as he stepped away from Draco and pulled the cloak around himself.

"Goodbye." Draco whispered. He made his way down the stairs, and was about to head for the dormitories before he noticed that Severus' door was a little open. Curiosity got the better of him as he transformed into his Animagus form once again to be quiet. He padded over to the door and pushed it open a little more with his snout. He froze when the door let out a slight noise, but took another step forward when he heard no noise coming from inside. He walked over to Severus' bedroom and picked round the open door. He looked over at the bed and saw Severus and Remus both fast asleep, cuddling against each other. It was one of the cutest things he had ever seen. Suddenly feeling guilty for invading their space, he quickly and quietly walked back out of his godfather's room and to his own bedroom, where he just about had enough energy to transform back and change before falling fast asleep, dreaming of raven hair and green eyes.

oOo

Yay, a nice little Harry and Draco moment! I have to admit I don't think this is an extremely good chapter, even though it is the longest. Review anyway? ;)

Not many people answered when I asked why you ship Drarry… At all. xD But I'll say why I do anyway. It is because I do literally think they are perfect for one and other. To me, they make more sense than Harry falling for Ginny. Like I made Hermione say, the contrasts and similarities they have just make them suit. Things like Harry being the Chosen One while Draco being a Death Eater, how Harry has dark hair while Draco has fair hair, and especially how neither had a choice. It also amuses me how the Slytherin house colours are both of their eye colours, though that seems to have no relevance whatsoever.

I won't be asking another question until at least one more person answers that one. But you probably don't mind. I'm rambling.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and don't forget to leave that review, okay? ;D


	16. Vulpes Serpente Malfoy

I will have to apologise for posting this a day late and for it being shorter than they have been recently. I have had exams recently, and most of last week was spent learning a lot of French for an oral exam. I also had an R.E exam last Monday. Luckily, both went fine. I also have an English exam this Monday, but I have no more until after half term, which I break up for on Friday. Yay! I was a bit disappointed from only having three reviews… Maybe raise that number this time? ;)

This chapter, though shorter, should provide some answers. Enjoy!

oOo

The next morning went surprisingly quick for Draco. Somehow, even after having little sleep, he found himself full of energy and ready for the day. Maybe it was partly due to him and his friends going to the Ministry that day to figure out a plan to save his mother from Lucius. He also wanted to see Jasmine if he had the time as he had several unanswered questions which he needed to ask, she might have even been able to help him. As it was a Saturday, the friends were in the library after their breakfast, either fitting in some extra studying and being asked to help every two minutes (Hermione and Draco), finishing an assignment ready for Potions on Monday on their own (Pansy and Blaise) or attempting to get even half way through the assignment and whining that they can't do it (Harry and Ron). After several pleads from both teens, Hermione and Draco sighed and gave in to help their boyfriends with the assignment.

"Honestly, this was set _two weeks ago, _Ronald!" Hermione scolded.

"But it's Potions!" He protested. Draco looked up from Harry's book.

"That is not an excuse. Honestly, I don't see why you all don't like Potions. It's like cooking." He said.

"I thought you had house elves to cook for you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, when I had a meal with my mother and Lucius. But whenever they were both out, I always used to help the house elves in the kitchen with my meal. They were sometimes the only friends I had in the holidays." He explained.

"Anyway, enough about cooking and house elves. Right, you know about this Ron…" Harry and Draco both zoned out of Hermione's help to focus on Draco's. Harry thought as the Slytherin went through it how much his Potion grades would be better if he always had his help. Only about an hour after Draco was helping him, they had finished. You can safely say it was the best Potions assignment he had done, and it didn't even sound like Draco's words.

"Thanks a lot." Harry said as he kissed Draco's cheek.

"No problem. He might realise I helped you, but my assignment is still better, so he'll know I didn't write it for you." He said with a wink. Harry laughed.

About half an hour later, all of them were done with their assignments just in time for them to go and get their lunch. After they had finished, they were to go with Minerva and Severus to the Ministry, so they did not want to be late for the meal. They sat in their usual places and started to eat their food. Well, all of them apart from Draco. They all looked at him concerned.

"Draco, don't start this again. You've put on weight; I don't want you to be as skinny as you were at the beginning of the year." Pansy said worryingly. Draco smiled at her and the others in an attempt to reassure then.

"Honestly, I'm fine. I know I wasn't at the beginning of the year, but today I'm just not hungry. I had breakfast, I'll be alright."

"Draco, please?" He glanced at Harry after he spoke those words, then back at Pansy, before he sighed and reached out for a sausage roll.

"Only because you asked so nicely." He said sarcastically. Harry shrugged.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" He said.

"Don't blame me if I don't eat it all." Draco said before taking a bite of it.

"As long as you eat something, we're fine." Hermione piped up. Draco grinned and pretended he was going to put it back down after taking his bite. Pansy believed him and slapped him on his shoulder, not noticing the wince as her gaze was on the sausage roll.

"Don't take the mick! At least half." She said, sounding a little like Molly Weasley.

"I-I was going to anyway." He said, cursing himself for stuttering. Pansy looked at him questioningly, before throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Draco! I didn't think! I should have known better!" She cried.

"Honestly, it's fine Pansy. I need to get over it; friends slap each other like that all of the time. It didn't even hurt me. It's just…" His voice drifted off as he breathed in a sharp intake of breath. She and Harry rubbed his arms while the rest looked at him sympathetically. He brushed off their hands, and managed to smile.

"Hey, it's all in the past. That bastard has just made it worse for himself. I'm not just going to let him hurt me, I'll be the one hurting _him." _He said, and carried on eating his lunch. The others did the same, and they stayed silent as they took in Draco's words. Soon enough, they had finished, and Minerva and Severus were coming over to them.

"Come on, we need to go." Minerva said. The students nodded and walked out of the Great Hall. They didn't get very far before Remus had come up from behind them and had pulled Severus away from Minerva's side. He gave the other professor a small kiss on the lips and ignored the other people's stares as he looked up at Severus.

"Be careful, Severus. I know they understand why you did it, but if word gets out to the other Death Eaters…" He drifted off. Severus gave a small smile and hugged him.

"Don't worry. Any students in the school who have parents that are Death Eaters have not seen anything from me. They all think it's an act. I will be careful." He said. Remus nodded and looked at the others.

"See you all later, I hope it goes well." He said, and then walked away.

"Right then. Let's go to my office, then."

xxx

"It's good to see you all." Kingsley said as they entered the Ministry. He had Moody and Tonks either side of him. Moody scowled at Severus, and looked as if he wanted to grab his wand and hex the life out of the Potions Master. Kingsley put a hand on the man's shoulder to try and calm him.

"Don't, Moody. We've seen his memories; we know why he did it." Moody still looked a little frustrated, but sighed and relaxed a little. He gestured for them to follow him.

"Come on. We can't take any chances with Snape out here, anybody could be walking by." He started walking ahead and the others followed. Draco seemed to recognise these corridors.

"This way looks familiar." He mumbled. To his surprise, Moody had heard him and turned around to face him.

"That's because we're going to Mrs Bell's office." He said. Draco nodded and smiled. They had just made it so much easier for him to see her.

"Is that where you get registered as an Animagus?" Hermione asked. Moody grunted a yes. They made it to the office, and just as Tonks was about to knock on the door, she opened it and greeted them all with a smile.

"Come on in, all of you." She said. They all walked into the room and she shut the door after them and cast a silencing charm on the door. She sat by her desk and laughed at her guests still standing there. Apart from Minerva and Draco, who had already sat down.

"You can sit down, you know. Make yourselves comfortable." They did as they were told, and filled the empty spaces, except from Moody, who just waved a hand impatiently to tell her to get on with it.

"Right, of course. We are here to discuss the plan to rescue of Narcissa Malfoy." She said in a mocked formal voice. The students snorted, and Tonks had to supress a grin. Moody sighed, looking annoyed.

"Just get on with it." He said. She cleared her throat, suddenly looking serious.

"Right, okay. Some of you are probably wondering why you are here. Not in the Ministry, but in my office when all I do is register those of the Animagus ability, right?" All but the Aurors nodded. "Well, I suppose you know of Draco's ability now to do wandless magic correct?" Another set of nods went round the room.

"Well, _normally _wandless magic takes a lot of training just to do simple spells, and can drain the witch or wizard quite quickly. Anyone with the will and strength can do this, but it is very rare to be able to perform more advanced spells, and it almost always leaves them both physically and mentally exhausted. But, Draco here is different. Could you try using _reducto _on that target over there, please?" He looked over at a target prepared and nodded.

"_Reducto!_" The target smashed to the force of the spell. Jasmine quickly raised her wand and muttered a spell to dissolve the pieces which flew across the room. She put it back down and smiled.

"As you can see, Draco did that like a regular witch or wizard would with a wand. He did it almost without thought, and isn't drained in any way." She said.

"But what does that mean, then?" Draco asked.

"If I am correct, Draco, you haven't just inherited the ability to speak Parseltongue. In some pureblood families, ancient powers can be brought down from generation to generation, but cannot be used by most of these ancestors. Because of this, it takes hundreds, sometimes thousands of years to actually be used by an ancestor. I did my research, and I found that back in the eleventh century, you have an ancestor named Vulpes Serpente Malfoy. He could speak Parseltongue, perform wandless magic in both his normal form and his Animagus form, which was a dragon."

"So, how did I inherit his abilities?" Draco asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, no one is fully certain on how an ancient magic can skip past so many generations to one. Some believe it is simply fate, and that is what I presume with you. I think you may understand some Latin, Draco, considering the name you chose for your Animagus form is indeed Latin?" Draco nodded. "Well then. What does Vulpes mean?"

"Fox." He responded.

"Yes. And your name means dragon. Think of both of your Animagus forms." His eyes widened at her words.

"Our names are the species of each other's forms…" He said quietly.

"Yes, and even if it's just a coincidence that your parents named you Draco, it must mean something. Draco also means serpent in Greek, which is what Vulpes' middle name means in Latin. It links in together too well to be fully coincidental."

"This is all very interesting, but what has this got to do with saving Narcissa?" Severus asked.

"If you let me continue, I can get to that." Severus nodded. "Right, anyway. Vulpes was also able to, with high concentration, sense where a loved one was if they were missing. I believe if you have inherited everything else from Vulpes, you will also have this ability."

"So we can find her from this?" Jasmine nodded with a smile.

"That is fascinating." Hermione breathed.

"How can I do it?" Draco asked.

"Hold your hand across your chest to begin with." Draco did as he was told and placed one hand onto his shirt. "Yeah, that's right. Now, I want you to close your eyes and think of your mother, only happy thoughts of your mother. Can you do that for me?" Draco nodded and closed his eyes. He frowned as his mind filled with memories of both parents which were anything but happy. _No. Just mother, not Lucius. Just mother… Just mother… _He smiled as a thought came over him that he had forgotten of from years of abuse. His mind went over that night after he had broken that birthday present. He silently cried into his pillow after his punishment and had been sent to his room. Lucius had gone outside somewhere to calm the rest of his fury. What Draco had never thought of was how his mother had come into his room and hugged him close. She had reassured him it would be okay, and she loved him dearly but she too was scared of Lucius. Draco had actually felt happy for the first time in years as he felt something he was not used to feeling. The feeling was love. But his hatred for Lucius, and perhaps also for Narcissa's fright of him, pushed the memory away and he attempted to stop loving his mother. But, now, he welcomed the memory and smiled. He suddenly felt a warm feeling envelop his chest and then the whole of his body. He felt something wanting to pull him away, like a bond. And he knew this bond is what would lead him to his mother. He thought of the end of the bond, and, somehow knew where she was.

"I know where she is." He said as he opened his eyes. The feeling did not disappear, if anything, it grew.

"Excellent, we better go." Harry said. The rest nodded and they started to get up to go out of the room. Jasmine quickly raised a hand to stop them.

"Wait, hang on."

"What is it?" Minerva asked.

"There is one more thing you should know, Draco. Vulpes' love was kidnapped. He had found her via this bond you feel now, but by the time he had found her, she was a minute from death. Her last breath was in his arms. However, he used his magic to bring her back to life, but at a price. The magic had drained from him to bring her to life, and he died from the impact before his magic was able to restore. What I am trying to say is that if you are ever in this sort of position, your life could end the same way, unless another witch or wizard can use their own magic to help restore yours. So, basically, be careful Draco." She explained.

"Don't worry, I will be." He answered.

"Right, we better get Kingsley to help us. Come on, let's go." Tonks said before exiting the room with Moody. Severus and Minerva followed them, while Draco's friends hovered for a minute before Draco gestured for them to go on without him. Once they had left, he turned to Jasmine.

"Thank you, Jasmine. We wouldn't have been able to do this without you." He said to her.

"It's my pleasure, Draco. I am glad to help." She replied. Draco smiled and made his way to the door. He turned back to her as she spoke once more.

"Remember what I said, Draco. Stay safe." Draco nodded and walked out of the room to join the others. Tonks and Moody had managed to find Kingsley and he agreed to help them in any way he can. They turned to Draco once he had joined back up with them.

"Do you know where she is then, Draco?" Kingsley asked.

"Yes. She's in another one of the Malfoy Manors, though it is not as big and definitely not as well known. I only ever remember us staying there once." He answered.

"How are we supposed to get there, then?" Harry asked. They thought for a moment, before Hermione clicked her fingers to get their attention.

"What about Dobby? Would he be able to take us all there?" She asked.

"It's worth a try. Come on, we better get going." Draco said.

xxx

The group entered the kitchens in Hogwarts, and looked at the several house elves working. They all seemed happy doing their jobs, much happier than the house elves which were unfortunate enough to have Lucius as their master.

"Dobby? Are you here?" Draco called out. A blur flew across the room and he suddenly had two arms around him.

"Master Draco! Dobby is so happy to see his old friend!" Dobby said joyfully. Draco laughed and patted the house elf.

"It's great to see you, Dobby." He said. Dobby beamed at him and then looked at Harry.

"Mister Harry too!" He said and looked at the other members of the group. "Why are you all here to see Dobby, Master Draco?"

"You don't have to call me Master anymore, Dobby. And we need your help." Draco responded.

"What can Dobby help Mister Draco and his friends with?" Dobby said.

"Well, we need your help to save my mother." Dobby blinked at him.

"What has happened to the Mistress?" He asked.

"She has been kidnapped by Lucius." Dobby looked furious.

"Evil Lucius! Dobby is very angry! What can Dobby do to help Mistress?"

"Can you talk us to the second Malfoy Manor? All of us, I mean?" Draco asked.

"Of course Dobby can, Dobby can take as many people as Mister Draco wants!" The house elf exclaimed.

"Excellent. Can you take us all now, then?"

"Dobby can! If Madam Minerva McGonagall is okay with Dobby leaving the kitchens." Dobby looked up at the headmistress behind Draco, who smiled.

"Of course I am okay with it, Dobby." She said.

"Can we just hurry up with this, please?" Moody sighed impatiently.

"We can go now! Dobby needs everyone…" He was interrupted by both Severus and Draco letting out a yelp of pain and as they clutched their arms. Both had paled considerably.

"No, not now…" Severus growled.

"You'll have to go, Severus. They can't suspect anything." Minerva said. The man nodded.

"Draco, stay here. I will cover for you, don't worry. You can't go." He said.

"We have to be careful." Draco said as he winced from the pain from his arm. "The meeting is being held in the same manor." Minerva paled.

"Are you sure?" Draco nodded. Severus swore under his breath.

"You'll have to be very careful. I better go." He held his arm and vanished away in the black smoke. Draco muttered something under his breath, and sighed with relief as the pain in the arm reduced a little.

"Anyway, as you were saying, Dobby?" He said.

"Dobby needs us all to hold hands so he can take everyone through the barriers." He said. Draco nodded and took the elf's hand. Harry reached out and held Draco's, and the others did the same until they were all in a circle. Dobby nodded as they were all in position.

"Ready?" He asked. They all nodded. Dobby smiled and apparated them to the Malfoy Manor, where all of them knew it would not be safe, and they would not be leaving without Narcissa without a fight or perhaps even a confrontation with the Dark Lord himself.

oOo

I don't like how this ends. I didn't have any clue on how to word it xD

Did this answer some questions you may have had? I felt so creative linking in their names, haha. Bless myself. Anyhow, I said if one more person answered that question, I'd ask another one. So…

_**Who is your favourite Harry Potter character, and why?**_

I shall answer it in the next chapter. Goodbye, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review…! :D


	17. The Rescue of Narcissa

Hello! I was going to make this a longer chapter, but it's been a hell of a busy week. Even though I have broken up now for half term, I went to a party of my friend's so I couldn't work on this last night. I noticed that this was only about 1,000 words when I came to it this evening, so I had quite a bit to do too. Not the best thing to do when you're hung over, so you know the reason why this chapter may be terrible…

I hope you enjoy it!

xxx

Dobby had apparated them into the first main corridor of the manor, which they saw was quite less grand than the other manor. Immediately after they arrived, Moody had a finger at his lips to tell them to be quiet. The bond Draco felt to his mother led down into the dungeons, as he had anticipated. They stopped taking their cautious steps when they heard voices coming from the dining room round the corner. Harry held back a hiss as his scar started burning.

"I need you all to deal with them if they hear us. I will go down to the dungeons." Draco whispered. The others nodded as they watched Draco transform and quietly but swiftly ran down the opposite corner to the dining room, to the dungeons. They stayed where they were, in fear of getting caught, especially how the Dark Lord was just around the corner, holding a meeting.

"I know it's risky, but we need to listen in on what they are saying. Don't look at me like that, I know Severus would tell us, but we have the opportunity right now to help keep his story." Harry whispered. Moody looked at him with a glare before nodding. They quietly made their way to the corner, so they could hear the voices inside properly without being seen.

"I have had enough of your family betraying me, Lucius. If you weren't to have brought me Narcissa, I would have presumed you are a traitor also." They heard Voldemort hiss at Draco's father. A couple of them shuddered at the Lord's snake like voice.

"My Lord, I promise I will never deceive you." Voldemort let out an evil laugh at this.

"Oh, I will know that after you prove your loyalty to me, Lucius…" He hissed.

"How can I prove my loyalty to you, my Lord?" His master laughed once more.

"You haven't thought that I told you to not harm Narcissa yet just for the sake of it, have you not?"

"…Do you want me to kill her, my Lord?" Another cold laughed echoed in the room, then a pause. Harry frowned when he heard a voice coming from their feet. He looked down and gasped when he saw Nagini slithering near them and back into the room.

"(…Master… We have a few guests waiting outside…)" The snake said. Harry shot a warning glance at the others, who automatically knew what he was talking about. They took a couple of steps back, but froze when they heard Voldemort's voice again.

"Yes, Lucius. And considering young Draco is probably near the dungeons by now, you can do it front of him. It's up to you on how you kill her, but make it slow. You can do the same to him for fun if you wish to do so. For now, the rest of us will deal with our humble visitors outside the door…" He laughed. They heard several gasps and a lot of shuffling from inside.

"_Shit!_" Harry said, and they quicklyturned round the corner in time for a fury of curses to be thrown at them. They turned back around and shot their own curses back at the Death Eaters, with a lack of Voldemort and Severus, they noticed.

"We need to warn Draco!" Pansy shouted.

"Cover me a moment." Harry said. Pansy nodded and Harry quickly went back round the corner.

"_Expecto Patronum!" _ He whispered. He watched the stag appear before him.

"Warn Draco that Voldemort knows we are here and Lucius is heading to the dungeons." He commanded. The stag lowered its head and made its way to the dungeons. Harry looked up and ducked just before he was hit by a c_rucio. _He dodged another spell from the Death Eater, who he recognised as Vincent Crabbe sr. Harry raised his wand at him before he could react.

"_Stupefy!" _He yelled, and the man was shot back into a wall, and then fell down, unconscious. He quickly joined the others once more, who had been holding off the Death Eaters with ease. He saw Bellatrix raise her wand at Blaise, and he knew what was coming next. He quickly grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him out of the way of the killing curse.

"Thanks for that, Harry." He said as he sent another _expelliarmus _at Bellatrix, this time hitting her. Her wand flew out of her hand and onto the floor. She growled and looked at the others.

"Where is the Dark Lord?" She demanded as she ducked out of the way of another series of spells from the others.

"He is still with Snape in the dining room. Don't know why, though." Antonin Dolohov replied. He quickly picked up her wand which had landed near him and threw it at her, resulting in being hit by a _stupefy _and also being knocked unconscious. Harry turned to Minerva beside him.

"That can't be good. We need to go get him." He said in a low whisper. She nodded.

"_CRUCIO!" _ Bellatrix yelled as she threw the curse at Hermione. The poor girl screamed and fell to the floor as the torture curse hit her. Bellatrix laughed evilly. Ron looked at her furiously.

"HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY GIRLFRIEND?!_ SECTUMSEMPRA!" _He yelled. The spell was unexpected and Bellatrix was slashed by the invisible sword. She cried out in surprise and landed on the floor. Blood seeped from her chest and onto the floor. Everyone looked at him in shock, not expecting him to have performed such a dark spell. Alastor broke the silence by slamming his cane down onto the ground and knocking the remaining Death Eaters down.

"Harry, go and find Severus. We'll hold these off." Minerva said as the Death Eaters groaned and started to get up. Harry nodded and quickly ran past the Death Eaters before any could get to him. He heard several spells behind him from the light side, making him grin. He put his head round the door leading to the dining room carefully, and looked inside. He almost let out a gasp as he saw Voldemort pushing Severus into a wall, one hand around his neck and his back to him.

"You really thought you'd get away with this, you traitor? Kill Dumbledore and then what, switch sides?" He hissed angrily. Severus said nothing.

"Or have you always been a spy? Is that it? ANSWER ME!" The Dark Lord shouted.

"F-fuck you." Severus gasped out, to Harry's amazement. Voldemort growled and threw him from the wall and onto the floor. He frowned when he saw Harry.

"You do choose the wrong moment to come. Oh well, Nagini can take care of him." Voldemort said.

"I think I chose the perfect moment to come, Tom." Harry replied.

"(…Nagini… Dinner time…)" Voldemort hissed, then grinned at Harry. "I'm afraid I have to cut this short, Harry. _AVADA KEDAVRA!" _ Harry saw it coming and threw an _expelliarmus_ at th_e _same time. The green and red magic hit and the familiar sparks flew across the room. Something this time though was different, and it had to do with Voldemort's wand, by the growl he released.

"He told me a different wand would work!" He snarled, and broke apart the spell as the wand started to crack. He threw it at the wall in a fury and looked at his pet.

"(…Hurry, Nagini, we must go…)" Harry turned to the huge snake slithering to the Potions Master on the floor. He moved his wand to face at Nagini instead, but there was no need. A tinted blue fox made his way into the room, and stood in front of Severus, growling at the snake and reaching out a threatening paw. Harry recognised the animal from the previous night and realised it must be Draco's patronus. Surprisingly, the snake backed off and joined her master's side. Voldemort grinned as she slithered up his leg to wrap around his shoulders.

"Until next time, Harry." He said, and apparated before Harry could stop him. He sighed and looked at Draco's patronus, and moved closer when he heard a voice.

"_Harry, quickly come to the dungeons with the others. My mother isn't hurt, neither is Ollivander who I found here, but Lucius is here and I only managed to knock him down temporarily in this form and I can't transform if I am injured. Please hurry." _Harry nodded and the patronus nodded and went back to its caster. He quickly helped Severus up, saw he was alright and ran out of the room to find most of the Death Eaters gone, apart from Gregory Goyle sr who had been taken prisoner and the dead form of Bellatrix Lestrange on the floor. Ron looked at Harry and sighed.

"I can't believe I killed her… The Death Eaters couldn't heal her in time." He muttered.

"It was the right thing to do, Ron. We have to get to the dungeons; Draco needs our help." Harry said. They nodded and rushed down the stairs towards the dungeons.

xxx

_Meanwhile, as Draco went to the dungeons…_

Draco, or Puri, sped down the stairs at a speed he could only muster on four paws to the dungeons. He came to the door eventually, which naturally was locked. He stared at the lock and thought of several locking spells, and to his amazement, the door unlocked a few seconds later. He pushed it open the rest of the way with his snout and sniffed the air in the dungeons. His ears pricked up when he heard his mother's voice.

"What was that? Did you hear that, Ollivander?" He heard her say.

"Yes, I think it was the door." Ollivander replied. Puri took several swift paces forward and found the two prisoners in a cell at the end. They both blinked at the sight of a white fox looking up at them in their cell, though Narcissa smiled happily after a couple of seconds.

"Your eyes… Is that you, Draco?" She asked quietly. The fox nodded at her, and her smile grew further.

"Aren't you beautiful…" She said in awe. Puri grinned and focused on unlocking spells on the cell, though he was almost certain they wouldn't work on it. Unsurprisingly, he was right. _I guess it takes more than that… _He thought. He lifted a paw and gestured for them to move back, which they did. _Bombarda maxima. _He focused on the spell, and the cell bars shattered into many pieces. Narcissa and Ollivander quickly shielded themselves from the pieces, as did Puri. Narcissa beamed and stroked her son on his head.

"You never cease to amaze me, Draco." She said softly. He grinned and was about to transform before he saw Harry's patronus standing by them.

'_Voldemort knows we are here and Lucius is heading to the dungeons.' _The voice said, and it disappeared. In the nick of time, Lucius had made his way to the entrance of the dungeons. He grinned wickedly at the three of them.

"My, what do we have here? A little foxy saving his precious mother? How sweet." He cooed in a sickening voice.

"Sweeter than you have ever been, you cold-hearted bastard!" Narcissa spat. Lucius merely laughed.

"Sweetness does not give you the capability to survive unfortunately, dear Narcissa. _Crucio!" _ Puri sensed that the spell was coming and jumped in front of Narcissa to block it. He let out a high pitched yelp as he fell to the floor, and shook uncontrollably to the torture while whimpering softly. Lucius simply laughed evilly and didn't bother to remove the spell to aim it yet again at his wife. Narcissa glared at him furiously.

"Get off him, you crazed psychopath!" She screamed and slapped him hard across the face, making him break the spell. He growled and pushed her onto the floor. He turned back to Puri and hit him as he was shakily getting himself up from the dungeon floor. The fox yelped once more as the force of the cane knocked him back and into a wall. He fell onto the floor and landed on a sharp piece of one of the shattered cell bars, which lodged into his leg and started to bleed heavily, as well as his head from where the cane had struck him. He raised his head and tried to transform back into his human form, but found he was incapable of doing so. Lucius grinned and stepped towards him slowly.

"You really think you can stop me? As a pathetic creature, no less? Hang on, that is what you are anyway. You don't need to change into this for_ that._" Puri snarled and narrowed his grey eyes at his so-called father. The man was hit by a s_tupefy _and he was flown backwards onto the ground head first, though he remained conscious. He groaned and lifted one gloved hand to his bleeding forehead, and reached for his wand to heal the deep cut which was slashed across it. Puri quickly closed his eyes, raised a paw and focused on casting _Expecto Patronum. _He opened his eyes as he felt the magic flow through his paw and watched as a bluer form of himself appeared in front of him. Puri moved his raised paw and touched his patronus' paw which he had raised also.

'_I need you to send this to Harry upstairs; "Harry, quickly come to the dungeons with the others. My mother isn't hurt, neither is Ollivander who I found here, but Lucius is here and I only managed to knock him down temporarily in this form and I can't transform if I am injured. Please hurry." Could you do that for me?" _His patronus nodded and vanished into the darkness. Puri took a step towards Lucius, but stopped when the room started spinning. He was about to fall, but was caught by Narcissa. She had tears in her eyes.

"Oh, my poor Draco. If only I had my wand, I could help you…" She said. Ollivander crouched by Narcissa and looked at her with sympathy. All three pairs of eyes averted as Lucius pushed himself up from the floor and was glaring at them. He pulled his wand out of his beloved cane another time and pointed it at the three figures on the floor.

"I have had enough of this." He growled, but was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"So have we, Lucius." Harry said behind him. Lucius simply grinned and nodded curtly at Puri.

"Until next time, s_on." _He hissed, and apparated out of the manor before Harry had a chance to stun him. He ran over to Narcissa and Puri and knelt by them. He pulled out his wand in an attempt to heal him, but to no prevail. The fox's eyes were starting to flicker close due to his high amount of blood loss. He motioned for Narcissa to pass the animal over to him, who nodded and carefully lifted him into Harry's arms. Harry gently rose up from the floor he had been kneeling on and stroked his back gently.

"Hang in there with me, please. You've made it so far, don't leave me now." He murmured in his ear as he walked to the others.

"Is he okay?" Pansy whispered. Harry hesitated as he knew Puri was not okay but couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Where is Dobby?" He asked as he decided to leave the question.

"Dobby is right here, Harry Potter sir. Dobby can take Harry Potter and his friends back to Hogwarts right now, sir." He said from behind Pansy.

"Alright, to the hospital wing, Dobby."

"Of course, Mister." He said, and apparated the group back to the infirmary.

xxx

"What on earth is this, Mister Potter…?" Madam Pomfrey asked as they entered the hospital wing. Harry had showed her Puri, who was now whimpering softly as he struggled to remain conscious. His breathing was also at a rapid rate.

"It's Draco, Madam Pomfrey. Please, can you help him?" Harry pleaded with the nurse.

"I could try, Mister Potter, though I have never had to deal with a case like this…" She carefully took the limp form of Puri from Harry and placed him onto the bed. She took her wand and muttered something under her breath as she pointed it at the wound in his leg which still contained the bar fragment. It glowed for a second before she gently levitated it out of the wound and placed it in the bin. She then grabbed a purple coloured vial and tapped it to drip two drops of the liquid into the wound. She paused before adding another drop, and sighed in relief when the wound began to close up on its own. She then grabbed a cloth and wiped the blood from the matted fur around the cut on his head before using a different potion on the cut, which also closed up like the other wound. She smiled slightly when Puri's breathing started to become steadier and his eyes were a little more open than before. She then mixed the two potions she had used together in a bowl and put it on the bed. Puri looked at it and then at her.

"Drink it, please. Your blood will be restored by tomorrow if you do." She said. Puri managed a weak nod before he drank the potion. He yawned once he was done and rested his head back on the bed. Seconds later, he was sleeping soundly.

"I never thought I would be having a fox sleeping on one of my hospital bed. Never." She murmured. Alastor coughed and the others looked at him.

"Me, Tonks and Shacklebolt better get heading back to the Ministry." He said.

"Yes, yes of course. I'll escort you to my office." Professor McGonagall said. Alastor nodded and the four of them headed out of the room. Severus sighed deeply and placed his head in his hands.

"I can't believe they know I'm a spy. This is so messed up now." He muttered. Narcissa walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"Can someone please inform me of what is going on?" Blaise's mother from the other side of the infirmary, with her husband nodding in agreement. Blaise chuckled.

"Basically, Draco got hurt, Goyle got captured, Bellatrix was killed and Severus was caught as a spy." He informed her with.

"You were caught as a spy, Severus?" A voice said from the doorway. They turned to find Remus standing there. Severus sighed again.

"Yes, I was." He said simply. Remus sighed himself and shook his head. His eyes widened when he saw Puri laying on one of the beds, with the wounds still healing themselves.

"Puri? What happened to him?" He whispered as he knelt down beside the bed.

"Lucius attacked him. He was protecting me." Narcissa explained.

"Anyway, we better be heading off to dinner. It is in a couple of minutes." Ron piped up with. The rest nodded. Harry placed a light kiss on Puri's head first.

"I am so proud of you." He whispered, before following his friends out of the infirmary and leaving a smiling Puri on the bed.

xxx

I HATE HAVING A HANG OVER! D:

Ahem, anyway. Did you like this chapter nonetheless? I hope you did. Anyhow, I had some really nice answers about who your favourite character is. Here is my answer; my favourite character is Draco Malfoy because he is just a poor misunderstood guy. How else would a child act if they were brought up by Lucius Malfoy, even if he isn't as bad as he is in this story? I feel so sorry for Draco, and I think if he was brought up in a different household he could have come out differently sooner. Plus, he helps Harry, which is really sweet. ^.^ I could go on forever, but alas, I will not… Next question for those who want to answer it:

_**What is your favourite spell in Harry Potter, and why?**_

Don't forget to review! It will give me more motivation to get the next chapter uploaded, hehe. You would like a quick chapter, I can presume? ;)

Goodbye, I hope you actually enjoyed this. Wow, I go on in these, haha.


	18. DA Reborn

**PLEASE READ THIS!** Thank you.

Alright, so I was a little disappointed with only two reviews, one of which was only answering the question, haha (no offence) so I was just wondering if you could review? I don't want to seem like an annoying beggar, but I have nowhere near as much motivation if I don't have a lot of feedback! Thanks for reading that.

**BUT THIS IS THE BIGGEST PART, SO READ THIS PLEASE!** :

Okay, I have decided that once this story is done, I will look through my reviews and see who has reviewed the most reviews (proper ones, not just a word or too) and whoever this person is, I will write a small (about 1,000 to 2,000 words) one-shot about any HP pairing they want (even bloody Hinny if that's what they like), if they actually want a story. How does that sound, eh? Let me know! Oh, and if there are two people who have posted an equal amount of feedback or something, I could do this for more than one. So, I hope you like this idea. Naturally, so I don't have to think of a whole plot and take a long time, I would like it if you were to tell me the sort of things you like with that pairing, and perhaps something you'd like to happen. If you want me to do this, then after the last chapter has been posted and I've read through the reviews, I will PM the person who gets a story! :D …I'm so generous xD

Anyway, here is the actual chapter. Enjoy, Potterheads! I warn you, it's not that eventful compared to the last one, haha.

oOo

_The next morning…_

Narcissa sat on Puri's bed, stroking the white fur on his head gently. The fox's wounds had healed by the morning, though he was still sleeping soundly. His mother could not be more proud of how far he had come from the broken boy that previous summer. She could hardly believe that her little Dragon had inherited Vulpes' magic, though she had always thought he was special. She looked up when she heard several footsteps coming in to see his friends, Severus, Remus and Minerva coming in and smiled at them.

"How is he coming along?" Harry asked quietly as he took a seat on the bed by Narcissa.

"He's alright. The injuries made new scars for him which won't heal, though. As if he hasn't got enough already…" She sighed.

"Do you know when he should be waking up, Poppy?" Minerva asked the nurse, who shrugged.

"I'm not fully certain, but it should be soon. I did expect by breakfast, but as that's only in ten minutes I doubt that theory." She replied.

"My poor little Drake, he's been through so much." Pansy said sadly. Blaise held her hand in a comforting way and kissed her cheek lightly.

"Exactly, he can and will get through this." He said.

"It is still too much for one boy to take. It's one thing I do not like about this world." Remus said, and glanced at Harry as well as Puri.

"As soon as we stop that crazy bastard that calls himself a lord, we can come to like this world better." Severus added. Remus nodded, sighed and leant his head on the Professor's shoulder.

"I never thought I'd hear you swear, Professor." Ron said with a grin.

"Watch it, Weasley. I can go straight back to how I was before, if that's what you wish." Severus drawled.

"No, that's alright, sir!" Hermione said hurriedly. They all laughed, including Narcissa.

"So, you and Remus…" She started.

"Yes, we're together." Remus finished.

"That is so sweet!" Melanie called from the other side of the infirmary, and Cais smiled.

"I'm still getting used to it…" Ron mumbled.

"What did I say, Mister Weasley?" Severus warned, but couldn't stop a small smirk appearing on his face.

"I hate to stop this all so soon, but we really should start heading to the Great Hall by now…" Minerva said. The rest sighed and nodded, apart from Harry who hesitated and Narcissa who was going to be staying with her son.

"Please wake up soon, Dray…" Harry whispered and planted a kiss on top of his white head. He twitched as the lips pressed against his head, and slowly started to open his eyes. He looked up and blinked at his boyfriend and mother, smiling.

"He's woken up!" Harry called happily. They rushed back in and looked at the lively fox getting up on the bed. He licked Harry's and Narcissa's faces before transforming back into his human form.

"Well, that killed. A lot." He said, rubbing his arm.

"Are you alright, Mister Malfoy? No dizziness or anything?" Pomfrey asked.

"Nah, I don't think so." He replied. He got up and stumbled into Harry, who caught him. Pomfrey immediately rushed to their sides.

"Back to bed if you are like that!" She said, and tried to pull him gently back into bed. He pushed away her hands.

"I'm fine, honestly. I was spending too long on four legs, that's all." He proved this by taking several steps forward without falling. "See? I can walk perfectly fine. Fuck, I've lost a lot of blood in my life, this time is no different."

"Language, Draco." Narcissa said, but wrapped him in her arms all the same. He returned the hug and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Thank you, my dear Dragon." She whispered, and gave him a small squeeze before letting him go.

"I wouldn't have done anything different." He answered. He got himself up and took Harry's hand. Narcissa raised an eyebrow, and then winked. Draco winked back and then left to go and get breakfast with his friends.

xxx

"You know what? I really need to stop getting myself injured." Draco said to the others as they got their breakfast.

"Yes, you do. That's the what, fourth time I've had to carry you to the infirmary?" Harry smirked.

"Yes, but only two of them are from me being injured, so ha. The other two were from me fainting." He said.

"I guess you have a point. Still, we've been in school for barely a month. You might want to calm down on your injuries."

"I guess I do. I've lost more blood this year than I have in my life, I think."

"Thank goodness you are a wizard, if you were a muggle, you probably would not have survived the blood loss… Several times." Hermione said.

"Thank Merlin for that, then." Draco replied.

"I am glad that you're alright now, Draco. I worry far too much about you sometimes." Pansy said.

"You've always been my little worryguts." Draco grinned.

"'Mione's like that with me, sometimes." Ron said, and smiled at her.

"And for a good reason. Goodness, any girlfriend that you have had probably was the same with how you can be." She said.

"Except from Lavender." He answered.

"Does she count? Judging from what I saw, you just seemed to be snogging buddies. She seemed like a leech with how she always clung onto you." Blaise said. They peered down the table at the said girl, who was looking at them with a slightly annoyed expression. They all burst out laughing, though Harry's seemed a little forced. His friends turned to him, looking concerned.

"What's up, Harry?" Draco asked.

"Nothing is up. I'm just thinking." He responded.

"Of what?" Ron asked.

"I'm just thinking of… Well, perhaps starting up the DA again. Partly in memory of Dumbledore, and partly to get more people ready for the war." He explained.

"The DA? That was the club which you were teaching people different spells and such, wasn't it?" Draco asked, and Harry nodded.

"That is an excellent idea, Harry! You did a great job teaching everyone last time, before… You know…" She paused and glanced at Draco.

"Yeah, sorry about that…" He said awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it, Draco. It was mainly that bitch of a professor anyway." Ron said as he bit into his third slice of toast.

"Language, Ronald! And you need to cut down on your food." Hermione scolded, but couldn't stop a grin from forming on her face. Draco groaned at the memory of Umbridge.

"Oh my, _her._ How I hated her. I was proper panicking when she threatened to use the_ Cruciatus _on you, Harry." He said.

"I think pretty much everyone hated her. And I wouldn't be surprised if she actually did use it on me; she was a right crazy bitch." Harry replied. Hermione sighed.

"You lot honestly need to learn not to swear so much." She said, shaking her head.

"I guess we do, Hermione…" Ron grinned.

"Anyway, back to the whole DA idea. Should I ask everyone who was in it last time and anyone who might be interested this time to come to a meeting or something?" He asked.

"Something like that, Harry. How about we owl everyone from last time and ask them if they want to join in this time and anyone else who would also want to?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, that would be good. We can write to everyone today. We need to arrange a time for a meeting to be included in it, too." Harry replied. Hermione nodded.

"Would your three favourite Slytherins be able to join too?" Draco said with a wink.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Harry laughed.

"What about Professor McGonagall? Would she be alright with this?" Pansy asked. All three of the trio shrugged.

"There's no need to keep it secret like that time, but I'd rather not make a big thing out of it. I'd rather it be kept quiet, really." Harry said.

"If she finds out, she finds out really." Hermione said.

"I never thought I'd hear you say something like that, Hermione." Blaise joked.

"You would never believe that last time we were doing this, she actually said she didn't care about breaking the rules!" Ron exclaimed. Draco, Blaise and Pansy all looked at him shocked.

"Are you actually serious?" Draco asked. Ron nodded.

"Oh come on now, it's not that much of a big deal! Anyway, you all seem to be finished, so let's get started on those letters!" Hermione said as she started to get up. Her friends did the same and followed her out of the Great Hall, which they realised was almost empty.

"Shall we go to the Gryffindor common room first? There will probably be a few people there who will want to re-join. It saves writing more letters." Ron asked.

"Yeah, that seems best." Harry said.

"Would we be alright coming in there with you?" Pansy asked.

"Sure, why not? It seems that old house rivalry is nowhere near as bad anymore." He replied, which was true, ever since Draco, Pansy and Blaise became friends with the Golden Trio, everyone else seemed to follow in their footsteps and learnt to become civil with one and other. They made it to the stairs leading up to the Gryffindor Tower and saw Neville crying at the bottom of them. Concerned, the six of them rushed up to the weeping boy.

"Neville, what's the matter?" Hermione asked as she crouched down and put a hand on his trembling shoulder.

"Ginny, she…" He sobbed harder.

"Ginny? What's happened to her? Is she alright?" Ron asked hurriedly, naturally becoming protective of his sister.

"She's fine, more than fucking fine!" He shouted, and looked up at him with watery eyes.

"Neville, calm down! What did she do?" Harry asked.

"She only went and cheated on me with that Hufflepuff, Justin Finch-Fletchley!" He sobbed. The others looked at each other, shocked. None of them expected her to be the cheating type, especially as she seemed to like Neville a lot.

"Neville, I am so sorry." Hermione said, rubbing the shoulder her hand was placed on.

"I am seriously going to go and give her a piece of my mind!" Ron grumbled and started to get up the stairs, before Neville spoke again.

"It's mad up there, they're all yelling." He said. "I'll come with you, there is no point in me moping down here."

"Alright, let's go." They made their way up the stairs and through the portrait to find that there was indeed a lot of shouting in the common room.

"YOU ARE SUCH A SLUT, GINNY! I SAW YOU AND THAT THEODORE NOTT IN THE PREFECT'S BATHROOM LAST WEEK! Was that before or after you went for Justin?!" Parvati yelled at her.

"THAT IS SUCH A FILTHY LIE, YOU BITCH!" Ginny shouted back.

"I was there too, you dumbass! I've got the picture to prove it!" Padma added.

"WE WERE JUST… Uh… Studying together…"

"Studying in the bathroom, huh? Nice one, Gin." Ron said from behind her. She turned and glared at him and his friends.

"Oh, you are such a good brother, aren't you Ron? I love being ganged up on by my brother." She said sarcastically.

"Why, Ginny? You told me after we broke up that you like Neville." Harry said.

"It's called a lie, you fucking idiot! Did you really believe all that 'Oh, it's alright Harry, I see you more as a friend too' crap?! For Merlin's sake, who wouldn't want to be with you?" She yelled.

"Why did you lie about that?" He asked.

"Wake up, Harry. I've lied about a lot of things. Yeah, I did have a crush on you; you saved me from a psycho for fuck sake. But you know how awesome it felt when people were telling me that I was so lucky for being with the boy-who-lived? It was great! But then, what? YOU BREAK UP WITH ME, YOU BASTARD!" She screamed the last part.

"I'm sorry Gin, I can't help how I feel…" He said.

"Obviously you can't, otherwise you wouldn't have fell for a filthy Death Eater who is so fucking pathetic that even their own dad wants to kill them!"

"YOU BITCH!" Draco screamed, and was held back by Blaise and Pansy.

"How DARE you say that!" Harry shouted.

"Ginny, that is a horrible thing to say!" Ron said furiously. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You thought he was an absolute prick just a few weeks ago, so don't be such a hypocrite!" She said.

"That was before, uh, I don't know… I FOUND OUT HE WAS ABUSED?!" He yelled at her.

"Well, he deserves it!" Everyone gasped at her words.

"GINNY!" Ron shouted.

"No one deserves to have the beatings I have had, not me, not you, _nobody. _So you better shut your fucking mouth because it is getting you _nowhere." _ Draco growled at her.

"What are you going to do, huh? Get me killed like you did to Dumbledore?" She snarled at him. Draco broke out of his friends' grasps and raised a hand at her, though she quickly ran past them out of the room and down the tower. A silence fell on the common room.

"What a bitch." Parvati broke the silence with, making everyone there laugh.

"I didn't create that, did I?" Ron groaned.

"I seriously don't know what's gone into her. I mean, I understand she might be upset for me breaking up with her, but… You know…" Harry said.

"She better keep away from me if she knows what is best for her." Draco mumbled. Harry put his arms around him and rested his head on Draco's shoulder.

"Don't listen to what she says, Draco." He said.

"I'm not, Harry. She can go enjoy a lovely threesome with Justin and Nott for all I care." A couple of people giggled, though Ron couldn't sustain another groan.

"Oh my, I never thought my little sister would ever become like this…" He moaned.

"I can't believe it either." Neville muttered. They turned back to him, and suddenly a crowd had formed round the unhappy Gryffindor.

"You are better off without her, Neville, if she is like this now." Ron tried to reassure him with.

"I know, I wouldn't be as upset if she just broke up with me, I can live with that. But she _cheated _on me!" He moaned. "With a Hufflepuff, of all people!" He added with a slight smirk, and a few people laughed.

"I remember when it would be Slytherin instead… Wow, how times change!" Hermione exclaimed, and a few chuckles went round the room again, especially from their three Slytherin guests. Neville chuckled too, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Seriously though, guys… Why would she just cheat on me like that? Am I not worth to be broken up with properly? I've always been a bit cowardly and things, I know, but I didn't think I would deserve this…" He said. Ron walked over to him and put an arm round his shoulders.

"Don't be like that, mate! Of course you don't deserve it, it's just _her._ I hate to say this about my own sister but she is just… Yeah, you know, at the moment. You don't still like her after her acting like this, do you?" He asked.

"No, she isn't the same girl that I liked at the Yule Ball. But I still hate the fact that she cheated on me." Neville replied.

"It is horrible, but you have to move on, Neville." Hermione says. He looked up at her and smiled.

"You're both right, thank you. I guess I'll have to find someone else." He said.

"I have noticed someone with their eye on you, Neville." Draco said, and they all looked at him. "What? I'm observant! Well, I think they do. I haven't really had any time to think about it, but I've seen it for the last couple of years."

"And who is that, Draco?" Neville asked.

"Correct me if you think I'm wrong, but… Luna Lovegood." He said.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

"I'm almost certain." Draco answered. Neville sighed.

"I don't know if I'm ready for another relationship yet, really." He said.

"That's completely understandable, Neville. I'm just saying that when you _are _ready, I recommend her." Neville nodded, and blushed. Harry saw that the boy was starting to feel a little bit embarrassed and decided to change the subject.

"So, the reason that the six of us came here…" He gestured to himself and his friends, and looked around to see if there was anyone who would tell. "…Is that I had the idea of us starting the DA again." There was a little cheer across the room.

"Oh Harry, that's a great idea!" Padma said.

"It was a lot of fun last time, and we learnt so much!" Parvati added.

"I will do it again... As long as Ginny won't be there." Neville said.

"Don't worry; I'm not planning on letting her join this time." Harry reassured him.

"Let's resign this, then. Could people please owl anyone who was in it last time and are still here from other houses?" Hermione said, and then got out a piece of parchment and a quill. Harry then wrote _'Dumbledore's Army Reborn' _at the top of the paper, in memory of the headmaster. He then signed his name and passed it to Hermione by his side. While the members in the room signed the piecepaper, owls were sent out to the other members, who all replied that they were on their way to Gryffindor tower. Just ten minutes later, all of the new DA members were in the Gryffindor common room, including Daphne Greengrass and her younger sister, Astoria, to Harry's surprise. He picked up the list and read through the names:

_**Dumbledore's Army Reborn**_

_Harry Potter_

_Hermione Granger_

_Ron Weasley_

_Draco Malfoy_

_Pansy Parkinson_

_Blaise Zabini_

_Neville Longbottom_

_Luna Lovegood_

_Dean Thomos_

_Padma Patil_

_Parvarti Patil_

_Colin Creevey_

_Dennis Creevey_

_Terry Boot_

_Susan Bones_

_Michael Corner_

_Cho Chang_

_Astoria Greengrass_

_Daphne Greengrass_

"There are quite a few less than last time." He said. He turned to Daphne and Astoria. "It's not that I don't mind having you two with us, but who told you of this?"

"Padma and Parvarti did. We're quite good friends." Daphne answered, as Astoria nodded besides her.

"Ah, I was just wondering. It's nice to have some Slytherins with us too. Okay, when should we have our first meeting?" He asked. The group all looked at each other.

"Tonight?" Luna suggested.

"Why not? Is everyone okay with that?" He asked. Everyone nodded at him.

"Could I take a picture?" Colin asked, and the others granted him the honour. He set up his camera happily and stood by the new Dumbledore's army ready for the picture. He looked at it and smiled joyfully. Everybody went over to him and looked at the photo, which was perfect.

"See you all tonight in the Room of Requirement!" Harry said as he left with his five friends.

oOo

Alright, the ending sucks, I know. It was either leave it there or risk having a really long chapter which would take ages to post xD

So, anyhow, I asked what your favourite spell is (which one person answered) and mine is _Expecto Patronum _too because it's just plain awesome. Plus, it means 'I await a guardian', which I find really cool. NOW, the next question shall be…

_**What is your favourite pairing (HP), and why?**_

**NOTE:** Remember that thing I said earlier about the reviews and me writing a story? Well, answering the questions at the end is not included in this, that is just my curiosity. I will only include actual feedback on this story, okay? So you don't have to answer the question to make a review longer. So yeah, tell me what you think of that idea. There's no point in doing it if no one thinks they would want a story xD

Thanks for reading and I hope you're enjoying the story!


	19. Minerva's Concern

**Please read this! Thank you.**

Okay, I must inform you that this chapter isn't very good (I don't think anyway) and is quite short. I was going to make this a longer chapter to make up for the shorter ones recently, but I have had two exams this week and I have another two next week. Plus, I am afraid that I am very ill at the moment, and I do not write as well when I am ill. So, if this chapter seems bad, that is probably why. I was sick twice at school before my exam on Wednesday, it was horrible. I couldn't go home until after it, naturally, as I don't want to re-sit it next year. I think I didn't do very well because I couldn't concentrate. By the way, I am afraid this story is almost over. I will only have about another five chapters to post at the most, probably, including the prologue. It's been fun, though, and I've been planning my next story for a while (the next multi-chaptered one anyway), which I'm planning to make a humorous Drarry story.

**Also**, I decided to do that competition thing, so make sure you review! You can't win without reviewing! I will probably have two or three winners at the very most; it depends on what I think after I post the prologue. Anyway, I hope you somehow enjoy chapter nineteen!

oOo

The Dumbledore's Army Reborn members met up that same afternoon in the Room of Requirement. Even though a lot of people weren't there from the last time the DA was in place, it still felt quite a bit like the old times, though it felt newer in a nice way due to their five Slytherin members. Neville seemed to have almost fully got over Ginny and Justin, and now had a genuine smile on his face due to the comeback of the DA. Harry stood with Hermione, Ron and Draco in front of the students, and greeted them all with a smile.

"It's nice to see you all, old members and new!" He took a moment to look at the Slytherins in the group, including Draco by his side, before continuing.

"I think you probably have a fair understanding of why I have started this group once again, but I think I'll say it anyway just in case you don't. I have a couple of reasons, really… One is that I want to do this in the memory of Albus Dumbledore, a headmaster who has helped me so much over the years and who I have the upmost respect for. Another reason is because I want to make sure that those who are willing to learn more outside of our Defence Against the Dark Arts, even though Remus is a very good teacher, can indeed learn how to defend for themselves and fight when the time is right. The last reason is because we had a load of fun last time and I want to do it again." He said the last part with a chuckle, and the group also laughed at his words. They cheered and clapped their hands for a few seconds before Harry cleared his throat.

"Alright, I think what would be best that we go over a couple of things over today and next time we meet that were a little more difficult and expand on them, which will be helpful for both the old and new members." He explained to them. He looked at his Slytherin friends and boyfriend beside him, smiled, then continued.

"I have talked it over with these three, yes Draco is helping run this as well as Ron and Hermione, and we decided that we are first going to go over the Patronus charm first, then move on to casting it on a dementor. Well, not a _real _one, but we have studied thoroughly, thanks to Hermione, and Draco here invented a spell named _Tiànebris _which makes a fake dementor. It will act as though it can harm you, though it cannot." He said with a smile at Draco, who looked a little proud of himself, naturally. "Even though it can't harm you, it will still be more of a challenge to cast the spell than it would do usually. But first, I want you to practise casting your patronus again, if you will." The group nodded and separated to work on their charms. Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron walked round the room to help anyone who was struggling to produce the spell. Draco went over to Pansy, who seemed to be having quite a lot of difficulty. Rather than her patronus, all that was escaping her wand was a faint blue wisp of smoke. She turned to Draco and sighed.

"I don't know why, but I just can't do it, Dray. I'm trying to think of a happy memory, but it's not working." She cried.

"Don't worry Pans, you can do it. Just calm down a minute first, and just take a nice deep breath, relax. Just think of that memory, and only that memory. Close your eyes if you want to." He said in a soothing tone. She did as she was told and closed her eyes for a few moments.

"_Expecto Patronum!" _She said, and a beautiful peacock formed in front of her. Blaise looked over and grinned at her, making her blush. He cleared his throat and raised his wand to cast the spell. A similar peacock to Pansy's appeared, and when it made eye contact with Pansy's patronus, it spread out a gorgeous tail. Pansy and Blaise giggled at them.

"Will you look at that, we have the same patronus!" Blaise said happily. Pansy laughed and threw her arms around him before turning back to Draco.

"Thanks Draco, you're a good teacher." She said with a smile. Hers and Blaise's patronuses vanished when they were distracted by a terrier chasing an otter. They looked around and found that Ron and Hermione were standing by Daphne and Astoria, and the four of them were chuckling at the patronuses of the couple.

"I almost forgot about that." Hermione said, smiling.

"I didn't. I can't believe I have a _terrier _as my patronus. They're tiny!" He whined.

"They're cute though." She said, and placed a kiss on his cheek. Draco walked over to Harry, who was talking to Neville.

"I didn't realise this lesson was going to be mainly lovey-dovey patronus flirting." He said in a low voice to them. They both chuckled and looked over at the terrier and otter.

"Might as well join in, eh Draco?" Harry said with a wink, and cast the spell. Draco grinned and raised a hand.

"Might as well. _Expecto Patronum." _He said, and smiled at the similar fox, which walked over to Harry's stag and tried to jump on his back, making him and Harry chuckle. He looked up from them when he noticed the room was a lot quieter. He saw that most people were staring at him with wide eyes, apart from Harry, Hermione, Ron, Pansy and Blaise.

"You can perform wandless magic, Draco?" Luna asked.

"Uh, yes, I can…" He said.

"That is awesome!" The Patil twins both squealed.

"I am surprised it hasn't gone round the whole school by now…" He said with a slight chuckle.

"It probably will do when we have our next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson." Harry said.

"Probably. Anyway, we all seem to be done with this, so shall we move on?" Draco asked, changing the subject. They all nodded and came a little closer.

"Right, so I want you to treat this dementor like it were a real one. You will still feel the same sort of coldness from it, even though it can't harm you. Remember to keep thinking of your happy memory, and only that memory. Don't be scared; if you start to panic or struggle, you can leave it for now until you feel you are ready. I think it would be best if you do it too, Ron, Hermione and Draco because you've never actually cast it against a dementor before. Is that alright?" The three nodded with a grin. "Okay, good. Any volunteers on going first?" He added.

"I will do it." Neville called out, and stepped forward. Harry was slightly surprised that it was him who volunteered rather than one of his closer friends, but didn't say so and smiled instead. He looked over at Draco, then back at Neville.

"Are you ready for him to cast the spell?" Harry asked him.

"Yeah, go ahead." He replied. Harry nodded at Draco.

"_Tiànebris." _A black fusion of smoke shot out of his hand and formed into the shape of a dementor. It looked literally like it was an actual dementor. It hovered over him slowly, and Neville gulped as he raised his wand.

"E-_Expecto Patronum!" _ He shouted as he squeezed his eyes shut. When he felt the magic through his wand, he opened his eyes and gasped as a hedgehog fended off the dementor, and made it vanish due to it being made by a spell. As soon as the dementor was gone, his Patronus vanished. The group cheered, and Draco patted him on the back.

"Great job, Neville!"

"That was really cool!"

"You did it!"

Calls of praise went across the room as people formed a crowd round him. He smiled and blushed slightly, though he knew why they were like that as last time he couldn't cast the spell, never mind against a dementor, even if it was a fake. He groaned at the thought of what his Patronus actually was.

"Only _I _would have a hedgehog as my Patronus." He muttered. Luna walked closer to him and smiled.

"It suits you, Neville. Hedgehogs are shy and quite timid, but when they are threatened or scared, they can protect themselves, like you can with both yourself and others." She said to him in her soft voice. He turned to her and smiled a little.

"Thank you Luna, that makes me feel quite a bit better." He said to her.

"You're welcome." She beamed at him. The room was silent for a couple of moments before Harry piped up.

"Anyway, who would like to go next?"

xxx

Harry smiled at the progress of the DA. By the end of the afternoon, they all had managed to conjure their Patronus against the dementor, and they were only there for a couple of hours. They were all a little disappointed when they had to go for their dinner, but arranged to have another meeting the next Sunday. Soon enough, they were sat in the Great Hall eating their meals.

"It was a great idea for you to do this again Harry, it was a lot of fun this afternoon." Draco said as he started to pile his plate with the Sunday roast.

"It was. That's why I liked the thought of doing this, because it is not only fun, but I'm getting people ready for the fight ahead of us." Harry replied.

"It was nice helping you out with this again. Wasn't it, Ron?" Hermione smiled, and nudged Ron in the ribs when he was too distracted with the gigantic pile of food on his plate.

"Yeah, yeah it was. Sorry, mate." He said before he carried on munching away at his food.

"What are we doing next time, Harry?" Pansy asked.

"You'll have to wait and see for that, Pansy." He replied with a smirk.

"Mister Potter? Can I have a quick word with you after, please?" They looked over to the front of the hall at Professor McGonagall's call. Harry nodded at her, who nodded back and carried on eating her meal. He turned back to his friends.

"What do you think is up with her now?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, but she doesn't seem to be in that much of a worry or anything." Blaise said.

"Maybe she's found out about you starting the DA again or something?" Draco suggested.

"I don't know. I'll tell you all after." He responded, and went back to his food. The others did the same as him.

xxx

"You wanted to see me, Professor McGonagall?" Harry said once he made it to the office. The others were waiting in the corridor.

"Yes I did, Harry." She said with a smile.

"Is anything the matter?" He asked.

"Yes unfortunately, but first I just wanted to talk to you about this apparent rebirth of Dumbledore's Army…"

"What about it, Miss?"

"Nothing bad, I can assure you. I wasn't too sure if it was true or not, though Miss Lavender Brown did say several people had come over to Gryffindor Tower to sign something about it. She said she didn't sign up again, mentioned something about her "Ronniekins" not being there for her or something of that sort." She said with a chuckle.

"It does not surprise me." He said with a smirk.

"Yes, indeed. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for doing this again. I am grateful that you are respecting Albus in this sort of way while also getting several other students prepared for what is coming ahead of us. Speaking of this, I am afraid to inform you that this battle may happen in the near future." She said.

"What do you mean? Has Voldemort made any plans to attack?"

"Yes, but it's not just anywhere. He has been preparing to attempt to break into Hogwarts by destroying the shields around it, and seems to be making faster progress than in previous weeks. We have been doing our best to try and stop this from happening by strengthening them, but it's only a matter of time before he manages to destroy them completely. We give it about a month at maximum." Harry sighed and shook his head slowly.

"Damn. I guess I brought back the DA just in time, then. Why did you only tell me this and not the others too?" He asked.

"Because I feel as though a few other students are starting to get suspicious about me often needing to talk to you all. You might as well tell them; I'll be informing everyone of this tomorrow anyway. It's not exactly something I can keep quiet." She answered.

"No, not really. They need to know the truth. I will do my best to teach as much as I can in the DA, as everyone in there has a lot of potential to be good in the war, in fact, a lot of them as reached that skill already."

"That's good to hear, and I wish all of you the best. I have talked with Remus, and he thinks it would be a good idea if you, and perhaps Draco too, would help out in your Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons, as you're incredible at that subject and Draco is… Well, _has _a rather strong power and seems to be rather exceptional at it now too."

"It would be my pleasure to help Remus. I'm sure Draco would be glad to help him as well." He smiled.

"I am grateful to hear that, Harry. With both of your help, I'm sure your class will be learning a lot more faster, bearing in mind that Remus is a great teacher. Anyway, I can imagine your friends are waiting for you outside of here, so I won't hold you any longer." She said.

"I can imagine so. Thank you for informing me of all of this Professor, and I will see you tomorrow."

"It was my pleasure, Harry. Goodbye." They nodded at one and other, and then Harry exited the office to find his friends waiting in the corridor for him.

"That took a while, Harry. Is everything alright?" Draco asked after he had given him a quick kiss.

"Yeah, it is. Well, not really. How about we go somewhere quieter so no one overhears us? They will find out tomorrow anyway." Harry said.

"How about the Room of Requirement?" Hermione suggested.

"Yeah, we might as well. Let's go then."

xxx

They all made their way up to the Room of Requirement, which had turned into an elegant and comfortable room with a mixture of silver and gold colours for them. They sat down in the sofas provided, which were a little nicer than the ones in the Slytherin and Gryffindor common rooms.

"So, what did you want to tell us then, Harry?" Ron asked as he grabbed a candy bar from an end table by the sofa he was sitting on.

"Right, I'm just going to make this blunt. For the last several weeks or so, Voldemort has been planning and attempting to break down the shields surrounding Hogwarts. Recently, his attempts have been becoming successful and he will be able to break into the grounds in a month at the latest." He said.

"Oh great, that is just what we need." Draco groaned.

"But not all of us are ready to fight yet!" Pansy cried.

"We'll be ready." Hermione said firmly.

"Anything else you wanted to tell us, Harry?" Blaise asked him.

"Yeah. Draco, because me and you are quite good at Defence Against the Dark Arts… Don't try and deny it, you know as well as I do that your inheritance has made you pretty much unstoppable! Anyway, as I was saying, Remus and McGonagall want us to not only help out with the DA…"

"Wait, they know about the DA?" Draco interrupted.

"Yeah, Lavender told McGonagall, and she must have told Remus. Anyway, they also want us to help out in our Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons to give Remus a hand getting the students ready to fight soon. I said that I'll do it, and also that I'm sure that you'll do it too. Will you?" He asked.

"Yeah, of course I will." He answered.

"I can't believe it's going to be so soon…" Pansy said softly.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine, Pans. I'll protect you." Blaise said as he gave her a hug.

"So do we have any plans for Voldemort then, or are we just going for it or something?" Ron asked.

"Um, we're just going for it, I guess. I've always seemed to have that luck that prevents me from dying. Not others with me, though, so you all better be careful when you are near me. Or, you just keep away from me out there." He said, only half joking, which his friends noticed.

"We're not leaving you, Harry. We will always be by your side." Draco said, and rested his head on his boyfriend's shoulder.

"That's right, mate, no matter what happens." Ron added.

"We're all here for you, Harry." Hermione said. Both Blaise and Pansy nodded at him in agreement.

"Thanks, guys. I'm just worried one of you will get hurt." Harry said.

"We will try our best not to get hurt, Harry. I can't promise we won't, any of us can get hurt, but if one of us do it's not your fault." Blaise said with a slight smile.

"He's right, Harry." Pansy said.

"What we can promise though is that no matter what happens, we'll always be here for you." Draco said, and kissed him gently on the lips.

"Thank you, all of you. I probably wouldn't be ready for this without you." Harry said. They carried on chatting for a few minutes, before realising that it was almost past their curfew. The Slytherins and Gryffindors said their goodbyes and parted their ways to their dormitories, the thought of a battle they must win stuck in their minds.

xxx

…Yeah, I'm not the keenest on this chapter. Or is it just me?

As for the question in the last chapter, my favourite pairing is obviously Drarry. They're just perfect for each other. I won't go through the list of reasons again. I also really like Romione, they are just so sweet! Anyhow, here is the next question:

_**Which of the four houses is your favourite, and which would you be in?**_

Please don't just leave an answer to the question in your review, I like to hear your thoughts on the story as well, if not more! Thank you for reading, I hope you're enjoying the story.


	20. The Beginning of the End

This is quite a long chapter for me! And it's early! I had many ideas, hehe. **There will only be three more chapters after this one, including the prologue! **I thought that deserved to be in bold lettering. Yes, this is why this was longer, as the chapters should be longer from now on. I decided that this has too little Harry and Draco moments in this, so I did a nice one in this. You're welcome.

oOo

The next few weeks went in a similar regular pattern. They would go to their lessons, learn about techniques and knowledge they needed to know for the battle, and meet up in DA meetings as regularly as possible. Since Professor McGonagall announced about the progress of Voldemort the day after she told Harry, other teachers only set homework they redeemed as training or as something that would come in handy when they would fight. They of course knew that not everyone wanted to fight, especially the younger years, but they needed to be prepared for any attack that they would need to be able to defend themselves against. Remus Lupin had to make every minute of his lessons count, and Harry and Draco helped him to the best of their abilities, which were of course, rather high. Remus had politely asked that they would help out in his seventh year class with the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs too, which they accepted, due to them only having Care for Magical Creatures the time they had this class. Naturally, Draco was a little disappointed, but did not have any thought of rejecting to help as he knew that helping other students fight in the war was a lot more important than caring for some wild and exotic creature Hagrid managed to show them. The extra help Draco and Harry gave to Remus paid off, as the students in the classes learnt new skills and spells which would help them rather quickly, well, _after _everyone had stared in awe at Draco's wandless magic, apart from the DA members, who had naturally already seen Draco perform wandless magic. As this was a school, the news about Draco's magic spread across the school almost as fast as the news about his father did. Luckily, in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, Remus had kindly asked the students to stop staring at Draco as if he were an animal in a zoo and to concentrate on developing their much needed skills. This stopped them immediately, as everyone knew just how much their lives would be in danger in a matter of a few weeks.

Professor McGonagall, and all of the other teachers for that matter, had to keep an eye out for any children of Death Eaters, and not just in Slytherin either. Soon enough, a few children had left the school, but Minerva wasn't worried that they were missing due to their parents being either known or suspected Death Eaters. Daphne Greengrass was rather upset for a couple of days after her good friend, Millicent Bullstrode, also left the school. She had left a note to her friend, which simply said '_Sorry.'. _Daphne could not stay angry at her friend; not everyone had a choice in this war after all. The teachers still had to watch out for any spies, though, so were careful not to talk openly about any information which would come in useful. The Ministry had questioned Crabbe sr. after he had taken Veritaserum, but he had not revealed anything to them that they didn't already know. Even he did not know when Voldemort would break into Hogwarts, and they suspected that even he would not know until it came closer to the time.

Draco was not very anxious about the war. Naturally, he still was concerned about the safety of his friends, but he wasn't worried about himself in any way. In fact, he felt rather confident in himself, and it is thanks to his inherited power. He doubted highly that he would feel the way he did in himself if he hadn't actually turned out to be like his ancestor, yet he was still worried about everyone else's safety. It's not like he did not believe in them or their skills, but he didn't know what he would do if one of them died. It's not as though it was impossible, everyone knew that this battle could be brutal, and not one person tried to deny it either. Was there any point in doing so, when that would just make you unprepared?

It was three weeks after Professor McGonagall's announcement when the DA had learnt pretty much everything that they needed to know for when it was needed. Harry, Draco, Ron and Hermione could not be more grateful that their students were now fully prepared for the very near future, if they hadn't had finished before Voldemort and the Death Eaters broke into Hogwarts, they may not have been ready to fight. Time was ticking fast, faster than anyone wanted it to. At the end of the DA meeting on this day, Harry sighed deeply and quickly stopped people from going before he had a chance to speak.

"I just wanted to say that I am proud of all of you. I could not be more relieved that you have all managed to learn so much in a matter of just three weeks. Thank you all for being here and sticking with each other. We may have to fight very soon, and I am grateful that you are all ready to do just that. We can still meet up over the next few days to practise if you can, that way we can get prepared even more than we already are. So, once again, thank you." He said to his friends. They looked at him silently, but only for a few seconds before they started clapping for him and the three other leaders.

"You shouldn't be thanking us, we should be thanking you." Pansy said. "And also, thank you Draco for this opportunity. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even be here and I wouldn't have learnt what I did. I couldn't ask for a better best friend." She added, and walked over to give him a hug.

"I would like to thank you as well. No matter what happens, I know that this has been a great experience, and more importantly, has taught me so many things that I didn't know previously. So thank you also." Blaise said. Other members of the group called out their own thanks and gratitude before they all left for dinner.

xxx

"Harry? Wait there a minute!" Draco called out to his boyfriend just as him, Ron and Hermione separated to go to their dormitories.

"What is it, Draco?" He asked after he stopped and turned back around.

"Would you like to… Perhaps stay in my room tonight?" Draco asked him. Harry smiled at him happily.

"Of course I will, I don't see why I shouldn't be allowed. Could you just go on ahead? I will be there soon with my things." He replied.

"Yeah, sure. See you soon." Draco said. Harry kissed him on his lips quickly before he hurried off to catch up with Ron and Hermione. Blaise and Pansy grinned at him sheepishly.

"Planning something, eh Draco?" Blaise said with a playful wink. Pansy giggled.

"Oh, shut up, you!" Draco said, but chuckled all the same. The three went down to the dungeons, and once they got to Blaise's floor, he paused and looked at Pansy.

"Fancy one more in your room tonight too, Pans?" He asked. She blushed and answered him by grabbing his hand and pulling him up the stairs behind a sniggering Draco. They made it to her door and Draco could just catch them beginning a (what he thought would be) nice long snog before closing the door. He could not hear anything coming from in there, and presumed one of the two had cast a silencing charm. He grinned and went into his own room, and quickly set up a few candles, lit them, and turned off the main light with a flick of his hand. He waved a hand over the flames and they turned into a more romantic shade of crimson. He smirked, and had enough time to quickly cast a rosy scent on the room before Harry knocked on the door.

"Draco? Can I come in, love?" He called.

"You don't need to ask." Draco replied. Harry opened the door and breathed in the fresh smell. He smiled at the candles by the bed, which Draco was currently perched on and with a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

"This is lovely, Draco." He said lovingly.

"Not as lovely as you. Shove your bag down and come over here." Draco replied with a smirk. Harry grinned back and placed his bag on the floor. He walked slowly in a teasing manner, and before Draco had time to complain, Harry pounced onto him. Draco cried out in surprise and was knocked out of his sitting position so he was lying on the bed with Harry on top of him. They both laughed and Harry pinned both of Draco's wrists down onto the bed. He gave the boy under him a cheeky smirk.

"Who's the more powerful one now?" He said with a snigger. Draco rolled his eyes, and tried to pull his wrists out of Harry's grip, but his hold was too tight.

"I don't think so, Dray. You are staying right here, darling." Harry purred, and before Draco could respond, Harry had bent down to kiss him fiercely. Draco moaned and kissed him back, and stopped his struggle against Harry's hold. Harry deepened the kiss, loosening his grip as he did so. Draco's newly freed hands made their way around Harry's neck, and pulled him down closer. Draco's tongue slowly made its way into Harry's mouth, and a moan escaped the said boy's lips. Harry slowly pulled away from the kiss and gently started to make his way down Draco's neck, and grinned as he kissed a sensitive spot near his collarbone. Draco moaned deeply, and put his hands on Harry's chest to quickly stop him from continuing.

"What's up, Draco?" He asked.

"Hang on. Pansy and Blaise did the same." He said before waving a hand to cast a silencing spell on the door before turning back to his lover, grinning.

"_Now _we can continue." He said. Harry wasted no time after he said this by placing his lips on Draco's yet again. His hands made their way to Draco's black silk shirt, and slowly undid the buttons one by one, while still enveloping Draco in the kiss. Once the buttons were all undone, Draco smirked and rolled them over on the bed so they were lying side by side, and shrugged his shirt off while he did so. Harry's eyes were filled with lust as he looked at his partner's bare torso. Draco winked at him playfully.

"Like what you see, do you?" He purred.

"Indeed, I do. God, you are so sexy, Draco." He said as he kissed along his shoulders.

"Even with the scars?" He questioned. Harry looked at his chest, and felt a pang of guilt at his own committed scar from the _Sectumsempra _curse across there as well as his father's. He looked up at his face.

"Even with the scars." He echoed. Draco smiled and tugged Harry's shirt over his head to inspect the other's body. He whistled as he did so.

"_I'm _sexy? Boy, you need to look at yourself more. You're _fabulous." _He said admiringly, and Harry chuckled.

"Fabulous? That sounds a bit queer, doesn't it?" He teased. Draco rolled his eyes.

"_That's _queer? Seriously, you are lying on your boyfriend's bed with your arms wrapped around him, and me saying fabulous is the queerest thing you can think of? Harry, this whole situation is very gay." He said. Harry laughed and moved a little closer to Draco.

"And I am glad it is like this. Why on Earth did we not do this sooner?" He asked.

"A number of reasons. Anyway, quieten down now; I've been waiting for this for _years." _Draco said. His hands swiftly found their way back around Harry's neck and he pulled him in for another kiss. Harry moaned and kissed him straight back. His placed each hand either side of Draco's waist, and his right slowly crept down towards his trousers. Draco pulled away softly and grinned at him when he felt him unbutton them.

"Eager, are we?" He winked.

"Maybe a little." Harry replied hungrily. Draco undid Harry's jeans before pulling his own trousers fully off of him.

"You're not being the most dominate one here, Harry." He said as he pulled him back down onto him.

"Shall we?" Harry asked, gesturing to the bed underneath. Draco blushed deeply.

"I-I don't know… It's my first time." He said.

"Same here. Well, with a guy." Draco raised one blonde eyebrow at him.

"Don't tell me it was…" His words trailed off.

"Yes, it was Ginny." Harry finished for him. Draco groaned and shook his head.

"I can assure you that this night will be a lot better. Get over here, you." Harry had no chance to speak before Draco's lips were on his own again, but was assured that this night would indeed be better than his night with Ginny.

xxx

Draco groaned and opened his eyes when his alarm clock rang the next morning, as did Harry. Draco waved a hand lazily at his alarm clock to turn it off, and turned to Harry with a smile.

"God, last night was _amazing._" He breathed. Harry grinned and snuggled up against his lover.

"It definitely was. Wow, you proper demanded that I had a turn at being bottom too." He laughed.

"I wasn't just going to be left on the bottom! I had to be on top too." He replied.

"True, but considering I was top first, I must be the dominate one."

"No, that's not true."

"Yes it is."

"No, it really isn't."

"Yes, it really is."

"I can set you on fire easily without my wand, Potter. Would you like that?"

"I'm sorry, Draco. I'll behave."

"That's better." The two boys grinned at each other. Harry looked over at Draco's alarm clock to check the time, and saw that ten minutes had already passed.

"Since when do you have a muggle alarm clock?" He questioned.

"Since I got this room? Honestly, they are very helpful. I don't care that it is muggle." He answered. Harry shrugged, knowing he had a point. Draco yawned and stretched, before getting out of bed and pulling a reluctant Harry out of there too. "Come on, we've got to get ready so we aren't late for breakfast." Harry groaned, but reached for his bag all the same.

"Great, we have Potions first." He muttered. Draco turned to him, and sighed.

"I honestly don't see how any of you don't like Potions. I really don't." He said.

"I honestly don't see how you _can _like it." Draco shoved him playfully before they both got changed for the day ahead of them. Soon enough, they had met up with Pansy and Blaise on the landing, who both looked fairly pleased.

"Nice night, eh?" Draco asked with a wink. Pansy blushed and looked down at her feet while Blaise simply grinned and clapped him on the shoulder, though he also had a pink tint to his cheeks.

"Certainly. It seems as though you two did as well." He said. This time, it was Draco's and Harry's turn to blush, which Pansy and Blaise chuckled at.

"Anyway, shall we get going to breakfast?" Pansy asked. The other three nodded and they made their way to the Great Hall, and none of the Slytherins in the common room gave Harry a second glance, which he couldn't help but chuckle at.

xxx

"Seems like both of you couples had a nice night." Ron said as Harry, Draco, Blaise and Pansy sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Is it really that obvious?" Draco asked.

"It's not really _obvious, _the four of you just seem a little pleased and you're all blushing a little. Plus, we had a feeling that you and Harry would… Get up to something." Hermione said with a little wink.

"What about you two lovebirds?" Pansy asked. Hermione giggled and blushed slightly.

"Indeed we did, but that's nothing new." Ron said. Hermione was quick to slap him on his arm, but couldn't help letting out another giggle.

"Wow, I think we must have all got ambushed by Cupid or something." Harry exclaimed, which they all laughed at.

"That contraception spell did work, didn't it?" Pansy asked her boyfriend.

"Yes, I'm certain. I don't see why not, anyway." He replied.

"Alright, good. I don't think I'm ready to become pregnant yet."

"Yet? Are you saying you want kids in the future?" Pansy simply grinned and kissed him in reply. Draco looked at Harry and sniggered.

"Yes, I do believe we were definitely ambushed by Cupid." He said. Harry nodded and laughed.

"I'm expecting little arrows to come flying through the air at us. It would not surprise me." He said. Draco smiled, and then nodded in the direction of the head table. Remus and Severus were sitting by each other, both smiling at one and other. You could just see the joint hands under the table.

"Looks like the arrows will also be going in that direction, too." Draco said, and both he and Harry smiled at the two professors, who both looked up and raised an eyebrow at them, before shrugging and going back to their meals.

"Why is Ginny over at the Slytherin table?" Ron suddenly asked. He pointed to the table, and all six of them stared at the pair of Ginny Weasley and Theodore Nott at the end of the table away from the other Slytherins. She was practically sat on his lap, and was batting her eyelashes up at him. The six pairs of eyes all naturally averted to the Hufflepuff table, where they found Justin looking a little angry.

"Looks like she chose Theo over Justin. That didn't take very long." Draco said. They all laughed and went back to their breakfast. A few minutes later, just before they were about to leave, Draco looked back over at the Slytherin table, expecting another funny sight of the couple. He frowned when he saw Ginny back in her own seat. She looked shocked, and a little worried. Theodore on the other hand had a threatening look on his face, and seemed to be saying something extremely serious by the unstaring look in his eyes. _That's strange. _Draco thought to himself. _I wonder what happened there._

"Aren't you coming, Draco?" He was snapped out of his thoughts by Harry standing by him, as were his friends.

"Yeah, sure. Sorry, I was distracted." He said. Harry simply smiled and helped him up. Draco thanked him, and quickly looked back over at the Slytherin table as they were leaving. Both Theodore and Ginny were gone. He pushed the concern out of his mind and instead smiled at the thought of having Potions.

xxx

Later that day, after dinner, the six of them were having a little wander around the castle before curfew. They did not expect a certain Weasley running to catch up with them.

"HEY! Wait there you guys, stop! I said STOP, goddammit!" She shouted behind them. They reluctantly turned around at the panting girl.

"What do you want, Gin?" Ron muttered. She glared at him and put a hand on her hip.

"Is that really a way to speak to your sister, _Ronald?_" She scowled.

"Is there actually anything you want to say that's actually worth listening to?" Draco sighed. She turned her gaze at him, and narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, there is, actually. I don't even know why I would want you to know this though, you pathetic excuse for a wizard!" She hissed at him. Draco simply sighed in irritation, but Pansy seemed to be furious at the girl.

"I am so sick of you!" She yelled, and reached out to slap her across her face before Blaise could stop her. Ginny cried out, and growled at Pansy.

"You little bitch." She hissed, and had to be held back by Ron. She glared at him, but surprised them all by sighing and she calmed down. "I guess I deserved that." She said.

"What did you want to talk to us about, then?" Harry asked. She looked at him a little irritated when she saw his arm around Draco's waist, but chose it would be best not to comment.

"Right, it's mainly about Theo." She started. Draco suddenly looked at her curiously.

"Was it about how you were shocked at something he said this morning?" He asked. She looked at him with an arched eyebrow.

"How do you know about…? Don't answer that, actually. But yes, it was. First I better mention that… Actually, not here. Could we go somewhere quieter? Please? I don't know what I'd do if he overheard." She pleaded.

"We'll go to the Room of Requirement, if you want." Ron suggested. She nodded, and the seven of them were soon enough on the seventh floor in the RoR. They sat down on some sofas provided, and turned back to Ginny.

"Alright, you were saying?" Hermione said.

"Right, like I was saying, I better mention first that Theo is a… Death Eater." She said.

"He is? Are you sure?" Draco questioned.

"Yeah, he is. I saw the mark, naturally, when we were… Yeah. He said he got it in the summer holidays. He seemed a bit pleased with himself, actually." She said.

"So, what was that about this morning?" Draco asked.

"Well, I hate to say this but…" She hesitated.

"Yes?" Ron said.

"You're not going to like this… No one will, anyway. But… The Dark Lord will be able to get into Hogwarts early next morning. He is pretty much done breaking the shields." She said. The others stared at her with wide open eyes.

"Are you sure?" Harry said quietly.

"Of course I am! I wouldn't joke about something like that! I know I've been a bit… Off, recently, but I would _never _lie to you about that." She said. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as did the others.

"Is that what he told you at breakfast?" Draco asked.

"Yes, it is. He managed to get out of the castle straight after breakfast. He told me not to tell anyone, he said he would hurt me badly if I did. He said he didn't want to hurt me, and told me he was expecting me to help him in the war." She said. Ron went over to her and put an arm round her shoulders.

"As much as I've been angry at you recently, I would never let him get to you Ginny. Don't worry about him, okay?" He murmured to his sister. She nodded and hugged him.

"We've got to go and tell McGonagall _now._" Harry said. The others nodded and they hurried out of the room to Minerva's office.

xxx

"Are you completely sure?" Minerva asked the frantic students after they quickly told her everything.

"Yeah, he was desperate for me to help him on his side so he thought telling me would convince me somehow." Ginny explained. Minerva sighed, and hurried to send an owl to Severus asking him to come.

"I need him to come and send a message to the school while I go to the Ministry." She explained. A couple of minutes later, Severus and Remus burst into her office looking highly concerned.

"Go, Minerva. I'll sort this out." He said. She nodded and quickly Floo'd herself to the Ministry. Severus rushed over to send the message to the rest of the school.

"Message to all students and teachers; the headmistress has asked me to inform you all that the Dark Lord will manage to break into Hogwarts by the early hours of the morning. Yes, I know this is sudden, but we knew it would be happening soon. I advise you all to get yourselves prepared; we only have a few hours after all. He and the Death Eaters are expected to be in the Castle grounds by 2am at the latest, so like I said, prepare yourselves. Minerva is at the Ministry as we speak, and they are going to be heading here as soon as they have been informed of the situation. Thank you for listening, and for goodness sake, try not to panic." He said into the microphone. As soon as he got up from Minerva's desk, the said woman had floo'd back with the Aurors.

"We knew the fight would be here, so we've all come." Tonks said.

"I just hope all of us are enough to fend them off from getting inside Hogwarts." Minerva said.

"We are enough, Minerva. Don't worry about this, okay?" Kingsley said.

"I will try not to. We better all get ourselves ready for this. Forget about your curfew, children, just get yourselves ready." She said. The seven nodded and exited the office. Ginny turned to Draco once they were in the corridor.

"Malfoy, I'm sorry. I'm sorry to all of you." She said before hurrying off.

"Her apology isn't what I care about right now. Should we get all the DA members together?" Draco asked.

"We're already here." Neville's voice called down the corridor. They turned to their group at the end of the corridor.

"We came as soon as we heard the message. No matter what, we will all stay together." Luna said.

"Thank you. Let's have our last DA meeting, then." Harry said.

xxx

At 1am, the whole school, including the teachers and the Aurors, stood outside the castle, just in time for the shields around the castle to break. The shards of magic dissolved into the air, and the dark army stepped forward and made their way onto the bridge, a grinning Voldemort at the front of them. Harry looked straight at the faraway figure, without a single wince at his burning scar. He grabbed Draco's hand and squeezed it without taking his eyes off of the enemy.

"Ready, Draco?" He whispered.

"Let's do this." Draco whispered fiercely back, his eyes fixed on a head of platinum blonde hair in the distance. Wands were raised, and the chaos begun.

oOo

I've done another cliff-hanger, haven't I? Whoops.

I am a little sad seeing this story coming towards the end, but I'm a little happy too. I can't wait to start the next chapters! I promise you, I will try my best to make them good. Was the Harry and Draco scene okay? I've never wrote them like that before, so was it alright? I didn't write the sex because… I just can't write it properly. Sorry.

I'm not going to ask a question this time, because I want a_ll _of the reviews to be about the story only. Speaking of which, if you're not too busy, a review from a few more of you would be nice as I worked very hard on this chapter, plus I've only just recovered from being ill. Thank you and I hoped you enjoyed it! :)


	21. The Battle

Why, hi there. Here's chapter 21. Enjoy!

oOo

The courtyard lit up from the fury of hundreds of spells cast from either side. Harry and Draco released their hold on one and other just as a killing curse was about to hit them, to which Voldemort screamed at the Death Eater about him being the one to kill Harry Potter. The two boys stood with their wand and hand raised. Draco looked back for his father, and saw him on the edge of the courtyard, his cold eyes fixed on Draco's. He quickly turned around the corner, obviously expecting his son to follow. Harry saw it too.

"You're going to go after him, aren't you Draco?" Harry said after he stunned a nearby Death Eater.

"Of course I am. Cover me." Draco replied.

"I will, be careful." Draco nodded and transformed into his Animagus form. Harry was confused for a second before realising he ran faster in that form. He kept his eye on the fox, and watched as he cast _Protego _around himself as he sped across the courtyard. Harry grinned, and quickly sidestepped a _Crucio _which some Death Eater cast. He stepped back slightly, and bumped into Fred and George.

"Careful where you're going, Harry!" Fred exclaimed.

"Fred, move!" George shouted, and pulled him out of the way of a killing curse. Fred took a deep breath and nodded at his twin.

"Thanks for that, George!"

"Alright, guys. I need to take out as many Death Eaters as possible so I can get to Voldemort. Come on, let's get out there."

xxx

Puri managed to get across the courtyard without being harmed. Even though Lucius would have warned the other Death Eaters about Draco's inheritance, some were still shocked by the white fox casting spells while running by them. He walked round the corner, to see Lucius leaning on a tree. He looked down at the little fox with narrowed eyes, and smirked slyly.

"Good morning, Draco. Lovely time this is, isn't it?" The elder Malfoy drawled at his son. Puri tilted his head, and then transformed.

"Hello, _daddy. _It's a pleasure to see you." Draco said.

"I thought might as well get you to a quieter place so we can have a nice little father and son _chat_." Lucius drawled.

"Oh, really? Wow, first time for everything! This is just what I wanted… Oh, back when I was _five. _Now, I just want to kill your ass." Draco said back.

"Watch your mouth, Draco dear. You wouldn't want to die with you talking like that, do you?" Lucius spat.

"Are you being serious? Do you believe that you are actually going to kill me? I'm not your punch bag anymore, Lucius. You and I both know that you're worried. You are worried that _I_ was the one who inherited this from Vulpes. You're probably jealous of me too; you want this yourself, don't you? Well too bad, because this is my power, not yours. And only one Malfoy will be dying tonight, and I can assure you, no one would miss him." Draco said. Lucius glared at him, and raised his wand.

"No, no one will miss you once you're dead, apart from that Potter. Tell him I said hi once you are together in the afterlife, won't you? Don't worry… Actually, no, I'll make this painful. _CRUCIO!" _Draco predicted what his father would do and sidestepped the unforgivable easily. He exaggerated a yawn and picked at a nail, grinning at him playfully.

"Oh really, Lucius, is that all you can do?" He drawled with a wink.

"You'll pay for talking to your father like that! _Incarceous!" _Draco was not expecting this spell as much, and one of the ropes managed to tie one wrist to a branch above his head. But, Draco was still not fazed, and he yawned again at his father who was stepping closer to him.

"Enough with the cockiness, Draco. You know that no matter what, _I _will always be more powerful than you." He snarled. Draco simply laughed, and looked up at his hand. With a couple of words under his breath, his wrist was released and he looked back at his father.

"I know you don't actually believe that. I know that you're scared of me, now that you can't push me around anymore. For once in my life, I can understand partly what is going through that twisted head of yours." He said quietly, with a slight grin.

"I am not scared of you, Draco." Lucius hissed. Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" He replied, and shook his head slowly.

"_Avete Statum!" _Lucius suddenly cast, and Draco flew backwards. He winced as he hit the floor and banged his head. He got up straight after, regardless of the slight dizziness he felt.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_ Lucius shouted as he saw his son get up quickly, but was too slow. Draco spun round out of the way of the spell, and raised his hand.

"_Expel-"_

"_CRUCIO!" _Lucius quickly shouted, and this time, the curse hit him. Draco cried out and fell to his knees with closed eyes, but didn't allow himself to go down any further. He winced at the torture going through his body, and opened one eye at Lucius. The man had a wide smirk on his face, and knelt down beside him.

"As much as you try to act like you've moved on, and that you're not scared of me anymore, you're wrong. All you are is a pathetic boy whose strength and will to go on is breaking. I've worked at breaking you all your life, and tonight, I will continue that so you are completely broken. I will make you suffer for being a traitor, and you won't be here after today. You can't stop me, you are weak. You are _nothing._" He whispered in Draco's ear. Draco, despite the pain, opened his other eye and glared at the man.

"Y-ou're wrong." Draco said, and managed to get himself up from the floor besides the torture still causing him pain. Lucius looked shocked for a moment, but quickly went back to his evil smile.

"Impressive, Draco." He commented.

"W-well, I've had a lot of practise." He managed to say, and then raised a shaking hand. Lucius stared the hand, and then at Draco.

"As if you could do that in this state, Draco." He drawled.

"I won't count on that. _Crucio!" _Draco watched as the unforgivable curse hit the elder Malfoy. He screamed and fell to the floor, dropping his wand and cane, and immediately Draco was free of the curse. He breathed in a sigh of relief, and then gazed down at his father. He couldn't stop the smirk forming on his face at turned tables of who is on the receiving end. It was Draco's turn to kneel down by the other. He moved closer, and Lucius' eyes opened a little.

"Doesn't feel good, does it, Lucius? This is what I've had to feel countless times for years. Guess what? It feels good to know you're in pain. It's feels good to know that you are finally getting what you deserve. Nobody deserves to have a father like you. I hate you; I despise everything there is about you. And now you are going to pay for what you've done to me." Draco hissed into his father's ear. He reached over and picked up Lucius' cane and wand. He looked back at Lucius grinning. He put the wand back in the cane, before releasing the curse on his father. The man panted and a couple of beads of sweat dripped down from his forehead. He didn't have any time to address where his possessions were before Draco's hand was yet again facing him.

"_Incarcious." _Draco said softly, and watched as the ropes bound together his father's wrists and ankles. He grabbed one of his arms and pulled him roughly to sit him up against a tree. Lucius snarled at him and tried to shake Draco's hand off.

"You better get these ropes off of me, Draco, or your death will be even more painful." He hissed. Draco simply rolled his eyes, and raised an eyebrow at him again.

"Lucius, really? You are talking bravely, quite like a Gryffindor I must say, but your eyes are telling me a different story." Draco paused and knelt down in front of him, his gaze never shifting from Lucius' eyes. "_They _are telling me quite a different story. You are not feeling brave, nor are you feeling courageous. You're scared, no, make that _terrified. _You're worried, and you've given up, because you know that you've lost this time." He whispered. Lucius' eyes widened, and he gulped, but stayed silent after that. Draco winked at him, and then got himself up off the ground. He turned to Lucius' wand and cane, and destroyed them with _Reducto._

"So, how should I kill you, then…?" He pondered out loud.

"Draco, you don't have to do this. Look, I'm sorry, okay? I've been a terrible father, and I know it was all wrong. Just don't kill me, please?" Lucius pleaded. Draco laughed, and coldly narrowed his eyes.

"That apology is not sincere. You're just embarrassing yourself." He said. He raised his hand once more, and smiled as Lucius winced. "_Serpensortia." _He cast, and watched the long black snake shoot of his hand. Lucius stared, and gulped once more. The snake turned to Draco, and bowed its head.

"(Hello, master.)" It hissed at him. Draco smiled at the serpent.

"(Hello there.)" Draco replied. Lucius stared at them both, without bothering to hide his fear.

"W-What are you saying? What are you about to do?" He asked worryingly. Draco simply smirked and winked at him, before looking back at the snake.

"(Could you do me a favour?)" He asked.

"(Anything, sir.)" The snake replied.

"(Could you kill him over there? Preferably in very painful way.)" He asked bluntly. The snake turned back round to the bound Lucius Malfoy on the floor, then back at Draco.

"(Is master sure? I can sense he is of the same blood.)" It said.

"(I'm positive. Don't worry about that.)" Draco answered. The snake nodded.

"(If you are positive, than certainly.)" It turned away from Draco, and slowly slithered its way towards Lucius. He tried to back away, but the ropes prevented him.

"Draco, stop it! Don't do this!" He cried.

"Why not? Like I said, only one Malfoy will die tonight, which shall be you." He replied coldly. Lucius had no time to say anything else before the snake shot forward and bit into his pale neck. An ear-piercing scream filled the empty field, and his face paled considerably. The snake continued to bite into the neck.

"(Stop, that will do.)" Draco ordered when his saw the scarlet blood drip down Lucius' neck. The snake obeyed and backed away. Draco stepped forward and crouched by his bleeding father.

"W-where did I g-go wrong in raising y-you? F-friends with m-mudbloods and-" Lucius couldn't continue before he coughed heavily. Blood spurted out of his throat, and Draco knew he had to say this quickly.

"That's another thing I don't get about you. Look at that blood on you, _your _blood. That looks no different than the lives of muggles and muggle-borns you and your filthy army have taken. There are many things I will never understand about you, yet I'm not sure if I actually want to know." He said quietly. Lucius' eyes started to close, and just a minute later, Draco felt the body go limp. Lucius Malfoy was dead. After years of terror for Draco, after years of being terrified of living in his own home, he had gotten his revenge. By a spell he learned in his second year and an ability inherited by his ancestors, he had murdered his own father. He had done it. He rose from the ground slowly, feeling slightly shocked at what had just occurred. He stared down at the deceased body of his father, and the blood which seeped out of his neck and onto the grass under him, and continued to do so until he felt something rub by his leg. He looked down at the snake he had conjured, who was looking up at him.

"(Is master okay? Did I do the right thing?)" It asked him. Draco glanced at his father, and smiled.

"(Yes, it was the right thing to do.)" He replied.

"(What happens to me now? I don't even have a name.)" The snake said. Draco pondered for a moment, before regaining his smile.

"(You do now. How does Serpente sound?)" Draco asked.

"(Master has given a name to me? Serpente sounds good. But I am just a conjured snake, nothing more.)" It answered. Draco's smile grew further.

"(You are more. Call me Draco.)" He said.

"(Certainly, Draco.)" Serpente replied. Draco grinned, but cursed when he saw that the Dark Mark had been cast above the courtyard.

"(We have to go.)" He said hurriedly. He stood by Lucius' body first, however, and he grinned.

"I hope you rot in hell, you bastard." He whispered, before transforming into Puri and running off back to the courtyard.

xxx

Harry had no time to worry about Draco in the intense heat of the battle, even though he had not returned by at least ten minutes. It seemed as though the light side was winning, though it was hard to tell with the fury of spells being cast. He stayed by his friends' sides and easily took out several more Death Eaters. Soon enough, he became face-to-face with Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. He saw Ginny narrow her eyes at Theodore, who returned the glare.

"Nice secret you kept there, Gin." He said.

"What did you expect me to do, huh?" She demanded.

"Maybe keep the Dark Lord's command secret? You do realise if he finds out it was my fault, he'll kill me! Did you ever think about that?!" He hissed.

"Did you ever think that me not telling would result in hundreds of innocent lives being killed?" She replied.

"I thought you loved me! I said something bad would happen if you would tell, and I am not a guy to go back on my word! _Cru-_"

"_Expelliarmus!"_ Ron yelled, and caught Theodore's wand as it flew to him.

"Dammit!" He cursed.

"If you think you can hurt our sister…" Fred said.

"…Then you're mistaken!" George finished.

"_Stupefy!" _Ginny said, and Theo flew backwards, unconscious. Crabbe and Goyle looked behind them at Theo.

"_Stupefy!"_ Ron said after when he noticed they were distracted, and the spell hit Goyle. Crabbe snarled, and dodged Pansy's own spell. He raised his own wand, dodged the other spells flown at him, and glared at Pansy.

"I hate you." He said. Pansy raised a hand to stop her friends from casting anything else.

"Why exactly is that, Crabbe?" She asked.

"Because I just do! You… You…" He said.

"I what? Rejected you last year? Just get over it already, Vince!" She cried.

"No, I won't. You broke my heart, now it's my time to break yours. _Avada Kadavra!" _He shouted, and the shot of green light was sent flying towards Pansy. She screamed and covered her eyes, but something, or _someone, _pushed her out of the way. She sighed in relief when she realised she had survived, but then looked at a lifeless body on the floor besides her. She turned the body over, and her eyes brimmed with tears as she held it close to her.

"Blaise, no! You can't die! Please don't leave me!" She wept as the tears streamed down her face. She buried he head into Blaise's torso and her body shook from uncontrollable tears. Hermione bent down beside her and put an arm around her trembling shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Pansy, it'll be okay…" She murmured, trying to comfort the poor girl.

"No, it won't be! He's gone! He's dead and he is never coming back!" She cried. She looked up at Crabbe with Blaise still in her arms, and gave him the most evil look she had ever had on her face. "How could you do this? How could you kill him? He never did anything to you! How could you?!" She shouted at him. He backed away from her.

"I'm sorry, Pans. I didn't know what I was thinking…"

"DON'T start making excuses! I hate you! I wish you were dead instead of him! _I LOVED HIM!" _She yelled, and raised her wand at him. Hermione yelped and quickly pushed her hand down.

"Don't kill him, Pansy! That will make you no better than he is!" She pleaded. Pansy sighed, but settled on casting _Stupefy _on him. The boy did not even attempt to move out of the way. Harry quickly casted _Incarceous _on all three of the Death Eaters. Pansy looked back down on the deceased body of Blaise, and once again buried her head in his chest.

"I can't live without you, Blaise. Why did you have to go? I need you here, by me! We had so many plans, but now you're gone and they won't ever happen. Why do you have to leave me? I love you so much; I don't think I can let you go…" She whispered.

"Hermione, stay with her. We need to finish this." Harry said, blinking back his own tears over the loss of his friend. Hermione nodded and continued to hold Pansy, while whispering comforting words to her. Harry just managed to catch the glistening of a tear fall down Hermione's cheek before he turned around with the others.

"This has quietened down." He said to the Weasleys beside him. They looked around and saw that there were indeed less fighting, as more Death Eaters began to fall.

"I need to find Voldemort." He said simply, and ran off away from them. Ron opened his mouth to call after him, but didn't bother. He turned to his siblings instead.

"We don't need to worry. He'll be fine. I can imagine he'll find Draco soon anyway." He explained. The three nodded, though Ginny looked a little frustrated over the mention of Draco.

"Since when have you called him _Draco?_" She asked through gritted teeth.

"Since I became friends with him after finding out his was abused, why?" He snapped.

"I'm fed up with all of this!" She cried.

"Ginny, just get over it! Just because Harry fell for him and not you doesn't mean you have to hold a grudge against him! This is hardly the time or place to bring this up, so just leave it already!" Ron yelled at her. She blinked at him in shock, but did not say anything.

"Didn't know you had that in you, Ronnikins!" George said.

"He's a fierce little one, our Ronnikins!" Fred cooed to his little brother.

"Oh, shut up you two." He groaned, but couldn't stop a little smirk breaking out on his face.

xxx

Puri made his way back to the courtyard, and stopped walking to peer around for Harry. He spotted him over by four Weasleys, and what looked like Hermione, Blaise and Pansy. In front of them stood three males, though he couldn't make out who they were. He stepped forward, but his path was blocked by a snake in front of him. And it wasn't Serpente. He quickly transformed and stared down at the long form of Nagini. He stepped back as the snake hissed at him and her head.

"Why, hello there, dear Draco. How have you been?" Draco's head shot up at the Dark Lord's sly voice. He smirked and placed a hand on his hip.

"Ah, not too bad, I suppose. Yourself?" Draco asked with a wink.

"Things have been going good, breaking into Hogwarts and all. Where is your father?" Voldemort replied while taking his time getting his wand out from his robes.

"Round the corner, and I don't think he'll be coming to join us anytime soon. You'll be able to see him in the afterlife though, if you wish to do so." Draco drawled.

"I think not, Draco. How does a little father and son reunion sound, though?" Voldemort said.

"Not very good, to be honest." Draco replied. Voldemort let out a cruel laugh.

"That's too bad. I think I'll let Nagini take care of you; she deserves a new meal. Be sure to say hi to Harry when he joins you, if you will." He hissed, and turned to Nagini. "(Dinnertime, girl…)"

Nagini hissed and slithered towards Draco. He was about to raise his hand and stop her himself, but had no time before someone else did the job for him.

"_Avada Kadavra!"_ A female voice said, and the unforgivable curse hit the snake. It lay on the floor, lifeless. Voldemort stared at his snake, furious.

"No! How dare you, Narcissa!" Voldemort shouted. Draco turned round to his mother, with wide-open eyes.

"Mother? You… You killed her." He said in shock.

"No one is going to kill my son." She said simply.

"But I have your wand!" Voldemort said.

"I was given a new one. Honestly." She said, while rolling her eyes.

"Draco! You're alright!" A voice called from the side of him, and his boyfriend had run to his side.

"Oh, Harry. How lovely for you to join us." Voldemort said.

"You might as well give up now, Tom. Look around you; we've won. Your plan failed." Harry said.

"Yes, indeed it has… But I am not giving up without a fight. Shall we, Harry?" Voldemort replied, as he raised his wand at Harry.

"I might as well make your last moment living a little less embarrassing for your sake." Harry answered, and raised his own wand.

"_Avada Kadavra!" _

"_Expelliarmus!" _

Something was not right. Voldemort's wand was in his left hand. There were no forces of their two spells hitting one and other. The killing curse had not aimed in his direction. It had aimed towards his left… Towards Draco.

"_NO!" _Harry yelled, and crouched down to his left to hold the deceased form of his boyfriend. But the sight in front of him was not how he expected to be. Draco was alive, though not so well, as in his arms was the limp body of Narcissa. She had blocked the killing curse. She was dead.

"No, don't you dare die on me now! You can't… After all I've been through, you can't die!" He cried as he hugged her to his chest. He barely noticed Voldemort's collapse after Harry had killed him, or the crowd that was beginning to form around them. All he noticed was his mother in his arms. Harry crouched down beside him and put an arm around his waist.

"Draco, I'm here. It's going to be alright." Harry murmured to him.

"No, it won't be. I can't lose her!" Draco wept. He looked back at his mother in his arms. She looked so peaceful, and her face was one of true beauty. He realised just how much of a beautiful woman she was. Not just on the outside, but since he looked deeper into how she felt all of those years, on the inside too. And now… She was gone. His mother was gone. His tears fell onto her as he hung his face above her body.

"Why do you have to go? Like this? It's over now. You won't be able to see a world without Voldemort." He whispered. "Mother, I don't want you to go. I love you so much." After he said those words in a voice you could barely hear, a sudden warm sensation filled his body. He gasped as his hands glowed a golden colour, which started to fill his mother's form. He was suddenly hit by the memory of Jasmine's words. _He used his magic to bring her_ _back to life, but at a price… The magic had drained from him to bring her to life, and he died from the impact before his magic was able to restore… _Draco felt strangely dizzy, and his vision suddenly was suddenly tunnelled with darkness. His last sight was someone rushing to his side and the last thing he felt was gentle hands on either of his arms, but that was all he could sense before his mind was enveloped in darkness and he collapsed onto the floor.

oOo

Oh my God. I got tears in my eyes writing Blaise's death. I'm so sorry! I hate myself for letting him die! D':

I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway. I will try to get the next one done as soon as possible. Thanks for reading, and reviews are highly appreciated! :)


	22. Draco's Awakening

Hello! I'm sorry for this later chapter, I didn't know how to start this at first, and I went for a friend's sleepover so I had a little less time to work on this. It's here now though! I promise that I will try to post the prologue sooner.

Enjoy chapter 22!

oOo

Voices seemed to be stirring Draco out of his sleep. He moaned and clutched at his bed sheets, not ready to wake up. Why couldn't they just let him sleep? Except, the voices had stopped suddenly, and he questioned where he was. He didn't remember going to bed… So where was he? His head was throbbing painfully and he felt a lack of energy. Had he been drinking last night? No, that wasn't it, he was sure of it… He just wanted to sleep. He didn't want to wake up just yet, though he strangely felt like he had been sleeping for a long time.

"Draco? Can you hear me?" A male voice. It sounded familiar, but he was too tired to make it out. He kept his eyes closed. He didn't know if he had it in him to open them.

"Draco, please wake up…" The same voice spoke again. No, they didn't just speak, the boy had _ple_a_ded. _Not only that, but he was sure he knew this person. And when they reached out and held his hand, he knew for sure. _Harry._ A jolt of a heart-warming sensation filled him, _love _filled him. Suddenly, he knew that he had it in him to open his eyes. So he did. The first thing he saw was emerald green eyes filled with a mixture of emotions. Relief, happiness, concern, _love._ And that is when it all came back to him; the battle, fighting his father, _killing _his father, confronting Voldemort, his mother dying… Wait, did she die? He couldn't remember. All he remembered was his vision going dark.

"Draco! You're awake!" Harry exclaimed, and Draco smiled weakly up at him.

"Where's… Where's mother?" He said in a soft and quiet voice. A figure had made it to his side, and he turned to look at them. It was his mother, though she looked awfully stressed and tired. The dark circles under her eyes looked like they were caused from many nights without sleep. As did Harry's, actually.

"I'm right here, darling. You've given me such a fright!" She said, and tears started to form in her eyes. She smiled through them and took Draco's other hand.

"What happened? I thought you were killed?" Draco asked.

"She was, Draco. Don't you remember what happened after?" A female voice asked. He looked up, and for the first time, noticed all of the people in the room. It was Pansy who had just spoken, then there was Hermione and Ron by her side, and also Severus, Minerva and Remus. They all looked heavily relieved at his awakening. He snapped out of his thoughts when he realised he still hadn't answered Pansy.

"A bit, I remember my hands glowing. And some warm feeling inside of me. But then I fell unconscious… Wait, did I…?" His words trailed off as he looked back at his mother. She nodded and squeezed his hand.

"You did, Draco. You revived me. And if it had not have been for Harry over there saving you, you would not have survived." She said. Draco smiled and looked back at Harry.

"Thank you, Harry. I guess I had a bit of the reckless Gryffindor bravery taking over me." He said with a wink.

"It's great to have you back, Draco." Hermione said with a chuckle. Ron nodded in agreement beside her. Draco looked at the crowd on the foot of his bed, and his smile faded. Someone was missing.

"Where is Blaise?" He asked, and immediately realised it was not the best thing to say. The room fell silent for a minute or two, before eyes shifted to Pansy. She sighed, and looked at Draco with slightly pained eyes.

"Blaise… Blaise died in the battle, Draco. He died protecting me." She whispered. Draco's eyes widened in horror, making her look away.

"Oh… I'm so sorry, Pans." He replied softly. She smiled slightly and looked back at him with her arms wrapped around her stomach.

"There's no need to say sorry, Draco. It isn't your fault. But he has left me with something…" She said.

"What? What did he leave you?" He asked. She chuckled slightly.

"Draco, do you remember me questioning that contraception charm?" Draco pondered it for a second, and then nodded. He looked a little surprised. "Well, if you haven't guessed already then I am pregnant. By about two months." She said. Draco nodded slowly, but then looked puzzled.

"Two months? I thought that time the other day was you and Blaise's first time?" He questioned. The people in the room glanced at each other.

"We should have told you sooner, but it slipped our minds. You've been unconscious for two months, Draco. Your magic was that drained that it took that long for it to restore." Severus explained.

"Wow, that's a long time. Out of all the times that you've had to take me here, Harry, this I think tops it all." He said. Harry chuckled and hugged him softly. They both looked up when they heard someone come in, who was Pomfrey.

"I could tell from all of the excitement I heard that you had woken up. How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Well, when I first woke up I felt awful, but now I feel perfectly okay." He replied with a grin.

"Well, you seem fine, and your vitals are normal. I still think it is best if you stay here overnight, then you can go tomorrow." She said, smiled at him, and then left. Draco turned back to the others.

"Hang on, if it's been two months, isn't it close to Christmas?" He asked.

"Yeah, it is. A week from today. We could both go to Hogsmeade tomorrow and get our presents, how does that sound?" Harry asked. Draco smiled and kissed him on the lips softly.

"That sounds great." He answered.

xxx

The next day, Harry and Draco set off to go to Hogsmeade in the afternoon. Ron and Hermione had already gone there the previous together, and Pansy had gone with the Greengrass sisters a couple of days before, so it was just the two of them. They went around together first to get their friends presents. They were both smiling, and those smiles only grew every time a passing witch or wizard saw their joint hands. Even though the whole of the wizarding world now knew of their relationship thanks to the _Daily Prophet_, some people were still a little shocked at the turn of events in the space of just a few months. They both decided to put their money together to get the Firebolt for Ron, as Quidditch had started again now there was no danger and he was the Gryffindor keeper. They both believed he deserved it after how much he accepted their relationship not long after he detested Harry simply being his friend. They also decided to get him a little present each too from Honeydukes, so Harry got him a batch of their Cauldron Cakes while Draco got him a set of Chocolate Frogs. As well as this, they got some sweets to share for themselves. Once they were satisfied with their presents for Ron, they moved on to Hermione's presents. They immediately decided to go to Tomes and Scrolls to get her a book or two each. After looking round the store, they soon found something to get her. Harry got her a couple of books on advice and expectations on becoming a healer (after he explained to Draco that she had told them of her new plans to become a healer). Draco decided to get her a book on the history of healers, and how they have helped over the centuries. Harry bought Pansy a new set of luxurious purple robes from another shop, which they both decided would suit her beautifully. After a bit of consideration, Draco decided to owl an artist from France he knew to paint a portrait of Blaise for her once Harry and Draco met up again. After they both got the rest of their presents, including Narcissa's, they separated to buy each other a gift and agreed to meet up in The Three Broomsticks half an hour later. Draco watched as Harry went off into the distance before walking through the snow filled street. He had an idea of what to buy Harry, but the question on his mind was _where _to buy it. He wandered around the village, trying to find the perfect shop. And then he found it. On the end of the road, was a small jewellery shop which he had never noticed being there before. He opened the door and stepped inside. A middle aged man with long brunette hair looked up from the counter as he walked in, and gave him a heart- warming smile.

"Good afternoon, Mister Malfoy. I heard about your awakening, as everyone has, I'm sure. I hope that you have recovered well?" The man said.

"Yes I have, thank you." Draco replied.

"It's my pleasure. It is nice to see a Hogwarts student here; we don't get younger witches or wizards here very often. My name is Charles Wilson, by the way." Charles said.

"It's nice to meet you, Mister Wilson. Call me Draco, if you like." Draco said.

"I will, thank you. Call me Charles. So, what brings you here today?" Charles asked.

"Well, I am looking for a ring as a Christmas present." He replied.

"Ah, for Harry Potter, I presume?" Charles asked with a wink. Draco blushed a little and nodded. "Well, all of our rings are over here, unless you want one custom made for you."

"I think I'll have a look at the ones you have, first." Draco said. Charles nodded and took him over to the cabinet containing the rings. Draco thanked him and bent down to look at the rings. They were all beautiful, and he could tell that, even though there was glass in the way, they were all a rather high quality. It took several minutes of inspecting most of the rings before he found the perfect one. It was a gorgeous gold band with a bright large emerald on the face of it, with smaller emeralds descending in size either side of the larger one. He wanted to have a better look at it, to make sure it was the right one to choose, so he called over Charles. The man smiled when he looked at the ring Draco was looking at, and opened the cabinet for him. Charles got the box out and handed it to him.

"I don't think I need to tell you to be careful." He said. Draco nodded and held the box higher to inspect it. He found that the words '_Quos armor verus tenuit tenebit' _engraved on the inside of the ring. Even the box was beautiful, with the soft red velvet with a pattern of a dragon in gold thread. He smiled. It was perfect for Harry.

"How much will this be?" He asked.

"That would be 150 galleons. I'm sorry for the high price, but a ring like this is very complicated to make." Charles replied.

"It's no problem at all Charles, I understand." Draco replied with a smile, and handed him the money.

"Thank you, Draco. I hope all goes well for you." Charles said.

"Thank you. Farewell." Draco answered, and left the shop. He shrunk the shopping bag and put it in his pockets with the rest of the presents he had bought. After noticing it was time to meet Harry, he quickly made his way to The Three Broomsticks.

xxx

He found Harry sitting at a table when he arrived. Harry smiled and waved at Draco when he saw him enter. Draco sat down opposite to Harry and smiled back.

"Did you have good luck finding my present?" He asked.

"Yes, indeed I did. I'm sure you'll love it. Did you manage to find mine?" Harry replied.

"Of course I did, and I'm also sure you'll love it." Draco answered.

"Shall we order a couple of drinks?" Harry asked.

"Might as well. Butterbeers? Mind you, I am too full from those sweets earlier to eat anything." He said. Harry nodded and chuckled.

"Yes, butterbeers would be lovely. And I agree with you there on the food." A few minutes later, they had their drinks and started to sip them happily. Harry put his down for a moment and looked over at Draco.

"These past two months have been hell for me, Draco. We knew you would survive, we all trusted Madam Pomfrey when she said that you would be certain to wake up once you had been unconscious for a few days. But we didn't actually know _when _you would wake up. It could have been a couple of weeks, months, even _years. _I don't know how I would have coped if you hadn't woken up for that long, Draco. We all charged to the infirmary when we heard the news that you were stirring from your sleep. I had to see it to believe it. I've missed you so much, Draco." Harry said. Draco smiled and reached his hand out to place it on Harry's.

"It's all over now, Harry. No more Voldemort, no more Lucius Malfoy. All of that, all of which has happened to me is over. The future is bright now, Harry. And I can't wait to see it." Draco replied. Harry leaned over the table to give Draco a soft kiss. They both sniggered when they saw several people in the pub looking over at them curiously. Draco rose from the table, finished off his drink, and reached a hand out for Harry to take.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He said. Harry grinned, finished off his own butterbeer and took Draco's hand. They walked out of the building, leaving behind the curious witches and wizards.

xxx

Several days later, it was Christmas Eve. Many students had not returned to their homes for Christmas yet, in fact, it was fair to say that none of the students had. As it was only a couple of months after Voldemort's defeat, the school was planning on making it one of the biggest Yule Balls they ever had. Draco and Harry were in Draco's room that evening before the Yule Ball was starting, and were getting their own outfits ready.

"Are you ready now, Draco?" Harry called from inside the bathroom. Of course, they had no reasons to object to getting dressed in the same room, but they wanted to see each other's outfits once they were both ready.

"Yeah, come on in." Draco called back. The bathroom door opened and Harry stepped out. Draco's eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the look of his handsome boyfriend. The said boy was wearing luxurious emerald velvet robes, which seemed to bring out the colour in his eyes (if that was possible). He wore black trousers and a white shirt with a black bowtie. He had managed to somewhat tame his usually unruly and wild hair into a much neater style. There was a high number of flattering adjectives that Draco could have used to describe how Harry looked.

"Salazar, you look fantastic, Harry." He said admiringly. Harry blushed and smiled at the look of Draco. He had chosen to wear elegant black robes, with a black shirt and white trousers. It contrasted beautifully with his fair skin and hair, which he had simply brushed neatly over his forehead. A silver diamond was placed in the centre of his earlobe, which matched the silvery glow of his eyes.

"As do you, Draco." Harry replied. Draco beamed at him and offered his arm.

"Shall we get going?" Draco asked. Harry nodded and placed his hand on Draco's arm. They exited his room and met up with Pansy, Daphne and Astoria on the floor below. All three girls looked gorgeous. Pansy was wearing a pretty purple cocktail dress, and a black layered necklace with black heeled sandals. Daphne was wearing a nice white halter-neck with a high-waist skirt with a matching flower in her hair and heeled boots. Astoria wore a cute red pleated dress which went down to her knees and black pumps. Both of the boys smiled and nodded their approval at their choice of clothing.

"You all look great." Draco said.

"Yeah, you look really nice." Harry added. The girls thanked them and they went off to meet up with Ron and Hermione. The five students found them just outside of the Great Hall and the both of them also looked very good. Ron was wearing robes which were a huge step-up from the ones he had worn in fourth year, which seemed he had saved up a lot of money for. Hermione wore a beautiful deep blue silk layered dress which fell down right to her ankles.

"Wow, we all look brilliant." Draco commented. They all laughed before entering the Great Hall. It was filled with many students and teachers. A large decorated Christmas tree was stood in a corner, and the room had several mistletoe plants hung on the walls as well as other pretty Christmas decorations. The usual rows of tables were gone, instead there was two rows of food either side of the hall, and each filled with delicious servings of amazing meals and desserts. They went to the dance floor and started dancing to the next song that played. It was rather upbeat, and Harry seemed to be struggling to keep up with the music. Draco chuckled as he danced naturally.

"Bit too fast for you, Harry?" He asked.

"A little." Harry admitted. When the song ended, he was panting and bent over to try and catch his breath, which just made Draco laugh again.

"Do you want to go and sit down for a minute?" He asked. Harry nodded and the two of them went over to sit down. Draco _accioed _them both a glass of water. Harry thanked him and gulped down the liquid. Draco finished his drink and looked around him slightly nervously. Harry noticed this and looked at him questioningly.

"Is something the matter, Draco?" Harry asked, and took his hand. He could feel that it was trembling a little.

"No, everything is fine, Harry. Could we just…" He hesitated, and smiled when he heard a slow song started to play and saw couples were making their way to the dance floor. He rose from his chair and pulled Harry up with him. "Dance with me?" He said instead. Harry smiled and nodded, and they talked over to the dance floor. They swayed slowly in time with the music, and Draco led him through the couples around them. Harry giggled and rested his head on Draco's shoulder.

"I never thought that I would be dancing the girl's part." He said. Draco chuckled.

"Well, I must say that you certainly dance better now with this part than back in fourth year." Draco replied. Harry smiled.

"Thank you. That is a rather large compliment coming from a dancer as good as you." Harry said. Draco grinned as they continued to dance around the dance floor. After a minute, Draco released Harry, who looked at him puzzled.

"Why are you stopping, Draco?" He asked. Draco laughed and looked down.

"Because of this." Draco responded with slowly dropping down to one knee. Harry stared at him, as did people surrounding them. Draco ignored the stares down at him and reached into the pocket of his robe. He pulled out a red velvet box, and opened it to reveal the beautiful emerald ring from the jewellery shop in Hogsmeade he bought several days ago. He raised the opened box, and cleared his throat.

"Harry James Potter, will you grant me the honour of being my husband?" Draco asked. A collection of gasps filled through the hall, though Harry simply continued to stare, this time with a couple of tears forming in his eyes.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, of course I will marry you." He stammered out. Draco smiled widely at him and took his hand. He slid the ring onto his finger, which fit perfectly. Harry laughed gleefully and threw his arms around Draco's neck, placing a kiss on his lips. By this point, the tears were flowing down his cheeks, and Draco's eyes were starting to form their own tears, though neither of them cared. It was then that the hall erupted into applause and cheers for the newly engaged couple, all clearly joyful for them. Their friends made their way over to them, and they all exchanged hugs and words of congratulations. Once the next song started, Harry wiped away his last tear and beamed up at Draco.

"I'm never going to take this off." He whispered. Draco grinned, and shook his head.

"You'll have to take it off just this one time." He said.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Take it off and read it." Draco said. Harry did what he was told and looked at the engravings on the inside of the ring.

"_Quos armor verus tenuit tenebit." _Harry read out loud. He looked back up at Draco. "What does it mean?" He asked.

"True love will hold on to those whom it has held." Draco replied. Harry smiled and kissed him once more on his lips.

"It's perfect." He said softly. Draco smiled and wrapped him in a hug. He had never looked forward to what the future would bring for him more than that moment.

oOo

Wow, I can't believe that it's time to write the prologue already. Do you remember that competition? Well, I'll be doing no more than two stories for people, sorry. I have a fair idea of who those will be, but I will not decide for definite until after the next chapter has been uploaded. More information will be there then.

Look out for that prologue; it should be posted in a few days! Thanks for reading!


	23. 19 Years Later

I am sorry about this slightly late update, I have been so busy with work because I am going on holiday this Friday and I have had to finish it all early. Here it is, though! I'm sorry if it isn't long enough / doesn't meet your expectations, I've been so busy… I hope you enjoy this anyway!

There will be a long author's note at the end, but please read it all! It will contain information on those two people who can receive a one-shot of their choice.

See you on the other side!

oOo

Another Side of Draco Malfoy

Prologue: 19 Years Later

oOo

19 years later… Everything could not be better for everyone. The next generation didn't have to deal with what their parents and grandparents had dealt with; they could just live normal lives. Nobody was ungrateful for what happened in that October. They could just live peacefully, with no fighting in a war. Of course, there were the odd Death Eater for the first few years after the war trying to continue what Voldemort had started, but they were all soon captured and sent straight to Azkaban. After many times of helping in the year of the war, Kingsley Shacklebolt was finally made the Minister of Magic, much to everyone's delight. And as the war had ended, the students who were at the school in that time could move on to do what they always wanted to do freely…

Luna and Neville, for all of those years, decided to travel the world in search for exotic magical creatures and equally exotic and magical plants. They had created a large book on these plants and creatures, which Neville named '_The Wonders of our World', _after convincing Luna that a name as simple as that would be fine. The book soon became a well-known seller and many copies were sold all around the wizarding world. They settled down after their long journey and were now happily married and living together in a small but cosy house in the Welsh countryside.

Remus and Severus decided to retire after the year of the war. After all they had done and all they have been through, such as Sirius' death and Severus' reveal as a spy for the light, they thought it would be nice to retire together spend the rest of their lives relaxed without the stress of their jobs at Hogwarts. Every now and then, they would leave their house they shared to come back to Hogwarts to catch up with their friends and sometimes even take over a Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions lesson. They had mostly gotten over their grief over Sirius and Lily, and became quite a lot closer than they were when they were working at Hogwarts.

Pansy still had her moments where she would burst into tears about the thought of what she and Blaise could have had the first few years after his death, but after a while she started to accept his fate and just be happy that he had died for _her. _She decided after accepting this that she needed to find someone else to move on completely. That someone was her friend Astoria Greengrass whom she had kept in touch with, as well as Daphne, after the war. After Pansy had confessed having a crush on her for quite a while, Astoria told her that she also fancied her for quite some time. The confessions between the two girls brought a new level into their relationship and, even though Blaise would always be in Pansy's heart, they fell in love and had never broken up since. Daphne was very fond of their relationship, and even though she had never really settled down with someone, she still had a very happy life being single and with a well-paid job at the Ministry.

As for Ron and Hermione, things could not be better between them. Ron proposed to her after thorough encouragement from Harry, Draco and Pansy at the graduation ceremony. Hermione, of course, said yes, and they had their wedding the July after. She went on to fulfil her wishes as a healer. Her grades, of course, were high enough and St Mungo's wanted her to be hired as soon as possible. She only had a year of training before getting the job, and it had been an honour for her to be working there for so many years. Ron decided against becoming an Auror in the end, and continued his passion for Quidditch by joining the English team as their chaser. The hard work of his Quidditch training while he was in his last two years at Hogwarts and also in the couple of years after his time in education paid off when he received an owl from the Quidditch team asking if he would be a part of it. Their old chaser had retired due to an injury which left him a bit wary of continuing to play on the team, but that didn't faze Ron. He couldn't have been more thrilled as he wrote his reply of him accepting the team's request. He had been on the team ever since, and travel was not a worry for him and Hermione as she travelled with him and helped out with any injuries from matches and in the area. They were always home in time for their children, Rose (who was sorted into Ravenclaw) and Hugo Weasley (who was sorted into Gryffindor), to come home for the holidays. Due to Ron's well-paid job, the Weasleys were better off than ever as he gave some of his funds to her mother, after battling through her many protests. Fred and George also helped out Molly and Arthur with their money problems as their shop in Diagon Alley became an even bigger hit and they had opened a couple more in the UK, so they soon earned a very large sum of money. Molly and Arthur were highly grateful to their children, even though they, especially Molly, felt a little guilty for taking their money.

There couldn't have been two people in the whole of the wizarding world who were more pleased and had more of a dramatic change than Draco and Harry. A few people still couldn't believe they went from the hatred between them to being a happily married couple, though some would say that there was never any hatred between them. Most believed it was just childish arguing, not pure hate for one and other, especially not for Draco. Most also couldn't believe just how Draco had coped with his life, and what he had been through. That last year of his education at Hogwarts couldn't have been more eventful for him. Pansy discovered his abuse, he became friends with Harry, who then also discovered of his abuse, mastered his Animagus form, he rode a hippogriff while having his feelings for Harry return to him, the whole wizarding world found out about him and Lucius, he got kidnapped and almost died, he discovered he had inherited powers from an ancient ancestor, rescued his mother and almost died again, killed his father and resurrected his mother in the space of a few months, where he almost died yet again. There was no possible way he could have forgotten that time.

Both him and Harry passed their exams with high marks, and decided to take different jobs than they originally thought they'd have. Draco replaced his godfather's place as the Potions Master, and also taught Care for Magical Creatures when he had a free lesson. Harry decided to take Remus' place as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Both men were equally happy with their jobs and shared a room together. As Minerva stayed on as headmistress but was getting a bit tired from being the head of Gryffindor also, she gave the title to Harry, who accepted it gratefully. Of course, Severus allowed Draco to become the head of Slytherin after he had retired.

Their wedding was in the same month as Ron and Hermione, and so there was a lot to celebrate in that month. Their wedding was in early July, while Ron and Hermione's were later in the month. After a few minutes of discussion, their surnames became Potter-Malfoy, though some students they taught liked to call them either one of the names when they were in the same room, which was often. That was for most students, anyway, except from three. For these three students, they called Harry 'dad' and Draco 'father' as not to get confused.

A few years after their wedding, Draco and Harry decided that it would be nice to raise a family. Of course, they were happy being just the two of them, but they wanted that little bit more for the two of them. So, after them both agreeing that taking a conceiving potion would be both a little bit strange for them and painful, Draco found a different potion that, as unromantic as it sounds, would grow a baby over the period of nine months. Draco and Harry just needed to add a couple of droplets of blood with a mixture of a couple of other ingredients, and then it would work. They still made up for the lack of physical contact in this method of having their baby, though. The potion worked even better than they thought, as from it, they received two male twins. They both had Draco's platinum blonde hair with Harry's emerald eyes. They were two very beautiful children, and grew up to be a pair very much like the Weasley twins, who soon took a liking to them. One was called James Sirius Potter-Malfoy, while the other was named Albus Blaise Potter-Malfoy. Both Draco and Harry thought it would be the best sort of respect for them to name their two sons after the four deceased men. As happy as they were with their twins, they decided to try the potion again a couple of months later. This time, they got just one child, and this time they were a girl. She was the opposite of her older brothers, with Harry's raven-black hair and Draco's silvery grey eyes. It was a gorgeous combination for their daughter. They named her Lily Narcissa Potter-Malfoy, after both of their mothers.

Over the years, as their children were growing up, they stayed together at Hogwarts under Minerva's permission and went back together in the holidays. Before they knew it, it was James' and Albus' first year at Hogwarts. Draco watched proudly from his seat as he watched Harry called their sons' names for them to have the sorting hat placed on their heads. All of the students cheered when they were both sorted into Slytherin as the old house rivalries were all in the past, due to Harry and Draco's relationship. Soon enough, the two boys started to play pranks and be a lot like Fred and George were, only with blonde hair rather than red. It never got too out of hand, though, and it was actually nice to have two students like Fred and George back in the school.

The next year was Lily's first year. She wasn't a huge lot like her brother's, though she could be slightly mischievous at times. She was more of a bookworm though, and was very smart, so Draco and Harry were not surprised when she was sorted into Ravenclaw. She soon became very good friends with Rose, and the two could hardly ever be separated. It was rumoured that she had started dating Rose's brother, but no one knew for sure as Lily was a very secretive witch.

xxx

Draco and Harry laid next to each other one night at Hogwarts, watching the moon and stars through the window. This was not just any night for them though, this night was exactly nineteen years after Draco had proposed to Harry in their last year. The day was very special for both of them. Harry sighed deeply and leant his head against Draco's bare chest. Draco smiled softly and gently stroked back Harry's locks. Harry chuckled as he felt a necklace, _the _necklace, on Draco's neck. Harry's present to Draco on that Christmas nineteen years ago were two necklaces, one for him, on for Draco. The colour turned a different colour for each emotion the other felt; yellow for happiness, blue for sadness, green for envy, red for anger and gold for lust. Harry peered at the stone and smiled at the beautiful mixture of yellow and gold. Very true. He glanced down at his own to find the same colours on his pendant.

"I think that moment when you proposed to me must have been literally one of the best moments I have ever had." He said softly. Draco grinned and stopped stroking Harry's hair to kiss him gently on his head.

"I think it was one of the best decisions of my life." Draco replied. He wrapped his arms around Harry's torso. "Sometimes, I wonder how on Earth I managed to pluck up that courage to ask you to marry me. I couldn't be more glad I did." He added.

"Neither could I. I got to marry the man of my dreams and have three amazing children." He leant up to Draco and placed a kiss on his lips, which Draco returned joyfully.

"You know what? I still remember how we came out to the school." He said. Harry chuckled and reached out to take Draco's hand.

"Who could forget? Just casually walking into the Great Hall holding hands to the Gryffindor table, as you do. Merlin, that was hilarious." Harry said.

"I'll never forget how Ron was too, at first." Draco said. Harry groaned and shook his head, but couldn't stop a smile from breaking out on his face.

"At least we weren't _together _before that Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. If he was that bad with us being friends before that lesson, he probably would have ended up murdering the both of us." Harry laughed.

"I was actually quite surprised when he accepted us straight away. I know we were all friends and all, but I still thought he might have… Got a bit mad, you know?" Draco said.

"Well, he has always wanted what is best for me, and I guess he could tell that I was happy being with you so he didn't mind. He saw that other side to you, anyway." Harry replied, and sat up to kiss Draco's cheek. "I'm glad I saw it too. I couldn't have been any happier when you confessed to me, Draco. I had been questioning my feelings for you for a while, but I wasn't so sure. I remember way back in sixth year that I was becoming increasingly obsessed with you, because I was the only one who suspected you as a Death Eater. Maybe it wasn't just me worried about what you were going to do, but perhaps for your safety. I do think I was worrying for you too." He added. Draco smiled at him.

"I can't believe how long I had my crush on you. It sort of fazed away out of my mind when I was fixing that vanishing cabinet, because my mind was set on that, but it never went away completely. I think by our last year, it was driving me insane." He said. Harry smiled and cuddled up to him.

"I remember one time when you were going bright red in the Great Hall, and Pansy looked as though she was laughing. Was she teasing you about your crush on me?" Harry asked with a wink. Draco laughed.

"Yup, she was. You've got to love Pansy." He said.

"How can you not?" Harry laughed. "I'm glad she has found Astoria after what happened to Blaise, though. I thought she might not have ever got over it, but she has. I'm so happy for the two of them." He added thoughtfully.

"Yeah, me too." Draco said. They were silent for a couple of minutes, both thinking about Blaise, before Draco spoke again. "Do you remember Ron's proposal?" He asked. Harry smirked and chuckled at the memory.

"How can you not? I remember how it was just after the exams, he ran up to us and we couldn't understand a word he was saying. He told us about him wanting to ask Hermione to marry him, and I don't remember understanding him after that." He said.

"I know, he was talking way too fast I couldn't keep up! I have to admit, I did find it rather funny when Hermione walked in…" Draco said. Harry laughed and shook his head.

"Come on, me, you and Pansy _all _found it funny, even at the time. His face was even more hilarious, though… His face was redder than his hair! But then he surprised us all by bending down on one knee and proposing confidently there and then, even with a bright red face. Andof course, she said yes." He said. Draco smiled and hugged Harry closer to him. Harry grinned and looked up into Draco's eyes. The only pairs of eyes that can make his heart melt just from the beauty and colour of them. That was only a tiny fraction of what he loved about Draco. "I can think of another moment similar that I like a lot better." He said softly.

"And what is that?" Draco whispered with a wink.

"Exactly 19 years from now, when you bloody shocked me by pulling out a ring and then asked me to marry you. Seriously, I almost had a heart attack!" Harry exclaimed. "That Christmas present topped mine by miles." He added.

"I still love yours. And you." Draco said. Harry rose up and placed his lips on Draco's. A soft moan escaped from the said man's lips. He pulled away softly and smiled slightly. "I think the only moment better than my proposal was our wedding." He said.

"I know, it was so beautiful. Those robes you were wearing… Merlin, you looked amazing. Even more amazing than all those decorations Ron, Hermione, Pansy and your mother set up. Not quite more than how you looked in just the shirt and trousers afterwards, though. That was a little bit sexier." Harry chuckled.

"I did want to look good for you. I remember how terrific you looked too, Harry. From the beginning of the night to the… Well, that wonderful end." Draco said.

"End of the night, anyway." Harry said.

"Yes, not us. That will never end. We've had three children; I can't let them down…" Draco teased.

"Oh, shush you!" Harry cried, but the grin still formed on his face. "And what gorgeous children they are. Seriously, I could never be as happy as I am with you now as I would be with Ginny." He added with a shudder.

"I am very glad it was me you are spending your life with." Draco responded.

"I am glad too. I'm also glad that you've turned out how you are… Most people after what you've been through would just give up. And you hid it so well; I never would have known you had this side to you unless you weren't how you were with me…" Harry said.

"I guess I've always had a bit of the reckless Gryffindor bravery." Draco said with a wink.

"Don't you start teasing me about Gryffindors, now! Our daughter is dating one! Probably, anyway." Harry exclaimed. Draco sighed happily and relaxed further into the bed.

"Wow, 'our daughter'. Even now, I still feel so joyful when I hear the mentions of _our _children. It's hard to believe sometimes." He said.

"I know, I've never been happier than I have been now I am married to you." Harry said.

"I guess that is one thing I do owe to Lucius. Without him, I might not be with you. I still think of him as a cold-hearted bastard, but that is one thing I can be grateful for." Draco whispered. Harry stayed silent, choosing instead to rest his head deeper into Draco's chest. They both looked out of their window at the bright stars in the distance, and both men were thankful for fate granting them a life of happiness.

The End.

oOo

Thank you to all of you who have kept to this story, and even more so to those who have been reviewing! I never thought this many people would read this or I would make this many chapters, but I did! Not bad for my first multi-chaptered story, eh? ;)

Anyway, about that competition thingy…

I have pretty much decided who those two people will be, but I will wait until _after _I go on holiday to make sure people have had enough time to reviewed and things. I will PM the people I choose after I've decided. I am on holiday from this Friday to the Friday after. Remember, the one-shot can be about any (HP) pairing you want, unless you just want a basic story with no pairing. And don't ask for this, I will decide myself. I think that's it? I will give those people who win more information.

Anyway, please bless me with a lovely review to top it all off. I have worked hard to bring you this story. Yup.

Thank you so much for reading this story, and I hope you all read my next multi-chaptered story which I will start in a few weeks. I shall tell you the title in either one of those one-shots. Bye for now, my lovely readers!


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